Characteristics of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients in the pulmonology clinics of seven Asian cities

Yeon Mok Oh, Arvind B. Bhome, Watchara Boonsawat, Kirthi Dias Gunasekera, Dushantha Madegedara, Luisito Idolor, Camilo Roa, Woo Jin Kim, Han Pin Kuo, Chun Hua Wang, Le Thi Tuyet Lan, Li Cher Loh, Choo Khoon Ong, Alan Ng, Masaharu Nishimura, Hironi Makita, Edwin K. Silverman, Jae Seung Lee, Ting Yang, Yingxiang LinChen Wang, Sang Do Lee*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background and objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. We evaluated the characteristics of stable COPD patients in the pulmonology clinics of seven Asian cities and also evaluated whether the exposure to biomass fuels and dusty jobs were related to respiratory symptoms, Airflow limitation, and quality of life in the COPD patients. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study recruited 922 COPD patients from seven cities of Asia. The patients underwent spirometry and were administered questionnaires about their exposure to cigarette smoking, biomass fuels, and dusty jobs in addition to respiratory symptoms and health related quality of life. Results: Of the patients, there appeared to be variations from city to city in the history of exposure to biomass fuels and dusty jobs and also in respiratory symptoms of cough, phlegm, wheeze, and dyspnea. These symptoms were more frequent in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to biomass fuels than without and those with a history of exposure to dusty jobs than without (P, 0.01 for all comparisons). Airflow limitation was more severe in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to biomass fuels than without (52.2% predicted versus 55.9% of post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second [FEV1], P = 0.009); quality of life was poorer in those with exposure to biomass fuels than without (40.4 versus 36.2 of the St George's Respiratory Questionnaire [SGRQ] total score, P = 0.001). Airflow limitation was more severe in those COPD patients with a history of exposure to dusty jobs than without (51.2% predicted versus 57.3% of post-bronchodilator FEV1, P, 0.001); quality of life was poorer in those with dusty jobs than without (41.0 versus 34.6 of SGRQ score, P = 0.006). Conclusion: In Asian cities, the characteristics of COPD patients vary and the history of exposure to biomass fuels or dusty jobs was related to frequency of symptoms, severe Airflow limitation, and poor quality of life.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)31-39
Number of pages9
JournalInternational Journal of COPD
Volume8
DOIs
StatePublished - 11 01 2013

Keywords

  • Asia
  • Biomass
  • COPD
  • Dust

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