title: Sex-related differences in COPD in five Latin American cities: the PLATINO study.
abstract: There is evidence to suggest sex differences exists in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinical expression. We investigated sex differences in health status perception, dyspnoea and physical activity, and factors that explain these differences using an epidemiological sample of subjects with and without COPD. PLATINO is a cross-sectional, population-based study. We defined COPD as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity ratio <0.70, and evaluated health status perception (Short Form (SF)-12 questionnaire) and dyspnoea (Medical Research Council scale). Among 5,314 subjects, 759 (362 females) had COPD and 4,555 (2,850 females) did not. In general, females reported more dyspnoea and physical limitation than males. 54% of females without COPD reported a dyspnoea score ≥ 2 versus 35% of males. A similar trend was observed in females with COPD (63% versus 44%). In the entire study population, female sex was a factor explaining dyspnoea (OR 1.60, 95%CI 1.40-1.84) and SF-12 physical score (OR -1.13, 95%CI -1.56- -0.71). 40% of females versus 28% of males without COPD reported their general health status as fair-to-poor. Females with COPD showed a similar trend (41% versus 34%). Distribution of COPD severity was similar between sexes, but currently smoking females had more severe COPD than currently smoking males. There are important sex differences in the impact that COPD has on the perception of dyspnoea, health status and physical activity limitation.
authors.affiliation: Cátedra de Neumología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Hospital Maciel, Montevideo, Uruguay. victorina.lopezvarela@gmail.com
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Lopez Varela
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes de Oca
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Halbert
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muiño
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Padilla
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tálamo
authors.forename: J R B
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jardim
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valdivia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pertuzé
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: A M B
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Menezes
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires