TY - JOUR T1 - Prevalence of self reported physician diagnosed asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma-COPD overlap syndrome JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P3939 AU - Roberto de Marco AU - Giancarlo Pesce AU - Alessandro Marcon AU - Simone Accordini AU - Leonardo Antonicelli AU - Cristina Bombieri AU - Massimiliano Bugiani AU - Lucio Casali AU - Maria Grazia Panico AU - Pietro Pirina AU - Giuseppe Verlato AU - Isa Cerveri Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3939.abstract N2 - The joint distribution of asthma and COPD has not been well described in the general population.We studied the prevalence of self-reported physician-diagnoses of asthma, COPD and asthma/COPD overlap syndrome in the general population.In the Gene-Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases study, a postal screening questionnaire, which included questions on physician diagnosed asthma and COPD and respiratory symptoms, was administered in 4 Italian cities to random samples of subjects aged 20-44 (n=9739), 45-64 (n=3480) and 65-84 years (n=1975).The prevalence of diagnosed asthma decreased with age while that of COPD with or without asthma showed an opposite pattern (p<.001). However, the overall prevalence of either asthma or COPD or both was almost constant in the 20-44 and 45-64 age groups: 12.9 vs 12.6% (see table)View this table:Prevalences*of Asthma and COPDSubjects with both asthma and COPD had the highest prevalence of respiratory symptoms (p<.001) and had more frequent hospitalizations in the previous 3 months (p<.001). The risk of reporting a diagnosis of asthma only was significantly higher in young and highly educated people (p=.002) while the opposite occurred for COPD with or without asthma (p<.001).Subjects with both the diagnoses of asthma and COPD represent a relevant clinical population with more severe and frequent exacerbations. ER -