Tuberc Respir Dis.  2011 Dec;71(6):400-407.

Awareness and Impact of COPD in Korea: An Epidemiologic Insight Survey

• Hwang YI
• Kwon OJ
• Kim YW
• Kim YS
• Park YB
• Lee MG
• Kim DG
• Jang SH
• Jung KS
• Korean Academic of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND
There were a few studies which were conducted to know about the behavior of the chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) patients. The aims of this study was to explore the behaviour of COPD patients, such as awareness and impact of disease, the pathway of visiting doctors, and the treatment pattern and preference.
METHODS
A face-to-face interview of 300 subjects with COPD was conducted.
RESULTS
The most concerned symptom which made the respondents to visit the hospital was 'breathlessness' (78%). Only 58% of them knew the exact diagnosis. Seventy-three percent of them visited the hospital 'once a month' or 'once every 2 month'. They have made 12.8 prescheduled visits to the hospital in the past 1 year. Unscheduled visits and hospital stay figured to two in the past year. Only 11% of respondents felt they were currently in good health. 'Severe' and 'very severe' COPD patients perceived their health to be in a worse condition than 'mild' and 'moderate' COPD patients. When conditions worsened, 42% of patients were hospitalized. The most common prescription treatment was a fixed combination of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta2 agonists (48%), followed by a long acting anticholinergics (38%).
CONCLUSION
Over forty percent of the patients didn't know exactly about their condition. Most of them had a negative attitude toward their current health status. Doctors need to know more about COPD patients in terms of their attitude toward the disease, impact of the disease, interaction with healthcare professionals and treatment related problems.

Keyword

Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Behavior; Data Collection

MeSH Terms

Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Cholinergic Antagonists
Surveys and Questionnaires
Delivery of Health Care
Humans
Length of Stay
Lung Diseases, Obstructive
Prescriptions
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive
Adrenal Cortex Hormones
Cholinergic Antagonists

Figure

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  Figure 1 Study design.

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  Figure 2 Awareness of diagnosis. Only 57.7% of the subjects knew the exact diagnosis of their medical condition.

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  Figure 3 Recognition of health condition according to the disease severity. Only 11.3% of respondents answered that they were in good health. *p<0.05, compared to severe and very severe group, †p<0.05, compared to very severe group.

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  Figure 4 Attitude toward the doctors. Patients showed a low level of satisfaction with family doctors regarding emotional sympathy and being given adequate time and attention. Most respondents feel they are being provided with enough information from their family doctors.

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  Figure 5 Present prescription treatment satisfaction (% of positive top 2 according to each inhaler type). On the whole, there was no significant difference in the satisfaction levels among present prescription treatments. ICS: inhaled corticosteroid; LABA: long acting beta2 agonist; SABA: short acting beta2 agonist.

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