PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Florin Dumitru Mihaltan
AU  - Florentina Furtunescu
AU  - Roxana Maria Nemes
AU  - Dana Farcasanu
AU  - Ioana Mirela Daramus
TI  - COPD prevalence in Romania and possible influence of social and household characteristics
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P4740
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P4740.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P4740.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - COPD is a very important public health issue at individual and society level alike. Knowing the prevalence of COPD is extremely useful in health services planning, but using an early detection tool is crucial for life duration and quality of life of the patient.We aimed to estimate the prevalence of COPD in Romanians aged 40+ in relations to certain social variables and specific household exposures.A cross-sectional survey was performed using a stratified sample of 9638 subjects aged 40+. Using a pre-screening questionnaire, 51% of the responders were identified as being at risk for COPD (4930). 2000 subjects, randomly selected, were invited to perform a spirometric evaluation (at least 3 spirometry tests per patient, according to ATS/ERS standards). Smoking subjects (current or former) with a FEV1 ratio lower than 0.7 were considered as having COPD. Social variables considered were geographical region, rural/urban, education, occupation, income category. Specific household exposures were way of cooking and source of household heating.We found a COPD prevalence of 9.7% (+/-2.18) (15.7% and 3.9% in males and females). Median age of COPD subjects was 56 and 46 years in males and females. No significant correlations were found with geographical region, urban/rural distribution, education, job and income category, both for males and females. No significant correlations were found for source of heating and cooking.Conclusions: Our study showed that around half of the general population aged 40+ meets the criteria for being at risk for COPD (around 5 million people). In the risk group, COPD prevalence reached to 9.7%. Social and household variables seemed not to be associated to COPD.