Prevalence and risks of chronic airway obstruction: a population cohort study in taiwan.
BACKGROUND
This study investigated the prevalence, incidence, and hospitalization for chronic airway obstruction (CAO) in a population cohort.


METHODS
Medical reimbursement claims from 1996 to 2002 based on a 1996 insured cohort of 167,372 persons from National Health Insurance, Taiwan, were used. We presented the chronological trends of CAO (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code 496) and the relationships between the CAO severity and age, sex, urbanization, and hospitalization and comorbidity for the population >/= 40 years old.


RESULTS
The overall average annual prevalence and incidence rates were 2.48/100 and 0.66/100, respectively, for the population, among 4,568 patients with CAO cared during the study period. For the population aged >/= 70 years, the prevalence rates had a peak of 8.83/100 in 1998 and afterward remained a plateau until 2002. The corresponding incidence decreased from 2.48/100 to 1.62/100, and the hospitalization rate for them had a peak of 2.22/100 in 1999. The multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of hospitalization for CAO was higher for patients with the comorbidity of renal failure, coronary artery disease, and pneumonia and influenza, but lower with skin and joint disorders.


CONCLUSIONS
The national insurance program promotes patient care and provides a proper pathway for surveillance and identification of CAO.
Wang
Yu-Chun
YC
Institute of Environmental Health, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taipai.
Lin
Jia-Ming
JM
Institute of Environmental Health, National Taiwan University College of Public Health, Taipai.
Li
Chung-Yi
CY
Department of Public Health, Fu Jen Catholic University College of Medicine, Taipei Hsien.
Lee
Long-Teng
LT
Department of Family Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipai.
Guo
Yue-Liang
YL
Environmental and Occupational Medicine, National Taiwan University Medical Center, Taipai.
Sung
Fung-Chang
FC
Institute of Environmental Health, China Medical University College of Public Health, Taichung, Taiwan. Electronic address: fcsung@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan; D014507:Urbanization