PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Kenichiro Tanaka AU - Takako Tanaka AU - Yuichi Tawara AU - Masaharu Asai AU - Tsuyoshi Nishinakagawa AU - Masatoshi Itaki AU - Ryo Kozu AU - Hideaki Senjyu TI - Efficacy of early COPD diagnosis and intervention system DP - 2014 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - P1281 VI - 44 IP - Suppl 58 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P1281.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P1281.full SO - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44 AB - BackgroundEarly detection and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is essential to maintain patients' physical function. We have established a novel COPD screening system for early diagnosis and treatment of 50- to 80-year-old local residents with an FEV1% of <70%.ObjectiveTo verify the efficacy of this medical examination system according to changes in physical function during a 5-year intervention period.MethodsAll participants (21 patients with COPD and 25 healthy subjects with an FEV1% of ≥70%) were inhabitants of Matsuura, Nagasaki Prefecture and underwent community medical examinations in 2006 and 2011. For 5 years, pulmonary function tests were performed once yearly, and patient education was implemented two to four times yearly. The evaluation items were age, body mass index, pulmonary function test results (VC, %VC, FVC, FEV1, %FEV1, and FEV1%), the variation of 1 year, and grip strength.ResultsPatients with COPD were significantly older than healthy subjects, while all patients' pulmonary function was significantly lower than that of healthy subjects. The %VC decreased at a significantly lower rate in the patients. The FVC and FEV1 showed a similar tendency; however, the rate of grip strength decline was significantly higher in the patients.ConclusionsPulmonary function and grip strength decreased with age in both the patients and healthy subjects. However, the COPD interventions effectively suppressed the decrease in pulmonary function in the patients to a greater degree than the normal age-associated decline. COPD examination is now optional in Japan, but we hope that local residents become obligated to undergo the examination to allow for early diagnosis and treatment of potential COPD.