Abstract
Introduction: COPD prevalence varies widely depending on the geography. Two epidemiological studies in Spain showed a 9-10% COPD prevalence in population older than 40 years. However, none of them included the Canary Islands, a very interesting area for its climate characteristics and high smoking prevalence.
Methods: 1353 people from 40 to 70 years old were randomly selected from a sample of 596,478 individuals. Subjects participating in the study completed a long questionnaire which mainly included items about respiratory health and performed spirometry with broncodilatation test if obstruction was observed.
COPD was diagnosed if FEV1/FVC was lower than 0.7 after a broncodilator test.
Results: COPD prevalence in the Canary islands was 7.3% (IC 95%, 5.5-9.5%) being higher in male than female (8.7% CI 95%, 5.8-12.7% vs 6.3% CI 95%, 4.7-8.4% p<0.005). COPD prevalence classified by GOLD showed a 1.1% in stage I, 5.0% in stage II, 1.1% in stage III and 0.3% in stage IV. The level of underdiagnosis was 63.5% and undertreatment reached 71.6%.
Conclusions: The Canary Islands have a lower COPD prevalence than the rest of Spain as a whole, with a lower severity in spite of having a high smoking prevalence. This finding could be related to the special climate characteristics of the Canaries.
- © 2012 ERS
