The estimated prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a general practice population.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in a general practice population in the UK.


METHODS
Four postal respiratory questionnaire surveys were carried out between 1993 and 2001. Subjects from the 2001 study were invited for spirometry if they were aged 30 years or more, had indicated that they were 'ever smokers' in any of the surveys, and/or had been considered to have likely obstructive airways disease on the basis of their replies to the 2001 questionnaire.


RESULTS
2646 subjects were invited for spirometry of whom 871 (32.9%) attended. Results were available for 825 participants. 163 of these subjects were categorised as having COPD. The estimated prevalence in the whole population was 4.1% with the highest prevalence (14.7%) in those aged 60-69 years. In those aged over 40 years it was 9.6%.


CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the prevalence of COPD is much higher than the previous estimates of between 1 and 2%.
Frank
Timothy L
TL
General Practice Research Unit, North West Lung Research Centre, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, M23 9LT, UK. gpresearchunit@yahoo.co.uk
Hazell
Michelle L
ML
Linehan
Mary F
MF
Morris
Julie A
JA
Frank
Peter I
PI
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013147:Spirometry; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology