title: Most Italians attending a congress on health of elderly people do not know and do not recognize respiratory diseases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The present study reports the results of a survey jointly carried out by three Italian respiratory scientific associations (AIMAR, AIPO, SIMeR) together with an important Federation of elderly patients (FederAnziani) during the National Conference of Italian Court for Health Right held in Rimini from November 29(th) to December 1(st), 2013. The survey, based on a spirometric examination preceded by a questionnaire on respiratory health, was conducted on elderly people coming from all Italian regions to attend the Conference.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine hundred forty-nine subjects (574 females and 375 males), mean age 66.2 ± 10.1 years, were interviewed and performed spirometric examination. There were 137 smokers (14.4 %). Mean value of Body Mass Index (BMI) was significantly higher in males (27.6 ± 6.6) than in females (26.3 ± 4.3).
  
  
  RESULTS
  17.1 % (N = 143) of the studied subjects reported to be suffering from respiratory disease and the prevalent illnesses were asthma (31.5 %) and COPD/emphysema (24.5 %), but only 3.3 % of the whole surveyed group was able to identify COPD as a pulmonary disease, however without knowing its characteristics, while these were known by 0.5 % of the interviewed subjects only. A high number of subjects, 22 % of whom were smokers, declared chronic sputum production. 10.2 % of the study group showed an obstructive defect at spirometry when the criterium of lower limit of the normal (LLN) was considered, whereas it was 12.4 % if the fixed limit of 0.70 was chosen. 64 % of the obstructed people thought they did not have any respiratory disease.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this survey, able to spread the knowledge of respiratory diseases and spirometry in a wide sample of subjects for the most part scarcely aware of them, emphasize the need for a greater divulgation of respiratory issues among the general population.
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Physiopathology Study Group, Italian Society of Respiratory Medicine (S.I.Me.R.), Milan, Italy ; Pneumology Unit, Policlinico Hospital, Via Santa Sofia, 78 95123 Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ciancio
authors.affiliation: Multidisciplinary Respiratory Medicine Official Journal of AIMAR, Borgomanero(NO), Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Sanguinetti
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento per i Rapporti Istituzionali e le Politiche Sanitarie in Pneumologia, Italian Association of Hospital Pneumologists (A.I.P.O.), Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.affiliation: Centro Studi S.I.C. Sanità In Cifre, FederAnziani Senior Italia Association, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Taranto
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Organisation (CRO) Medi Service, Agrate Brianza, MB Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fasani
authors.affiliation: AIMAR (Interdisciplinary Association for the study of Respiratory Diseases), Arona (NO), Italy.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Benedetto
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi "Aldo Moro", Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Onofrio
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Resta
authors.affiliation: Italian Association of Hospital Pneumologists (A.I.P.O.), Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Michele
authors.affiliation: FederAnziani Senior Italia Association, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.affiliation: Italian Association of Hospital Pneumologists (A.I.P.O.), Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: AIMAR (Interdisciplinary Association for the study of Respiratory Diseases), Arona (NO), Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nardini
authors.affiliation: Italian Society of Respiratory Medicine (S.I.Me.R.), Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Maria
keywords: COPD; Elderly people; Predictive symptoms; Respiratory health; Smoking; Spirometry