TY - JOUR T1 - COPD – what patients know about their disease and which of them require special attention JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2020.1837 VL - 56 IS - suppl 64 SP - 1837 AU - Małgorzata Farnik AU - Marzena Trzaska - Sobczak Y1 - 2020/09/07 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/56/suppl_64/1837.abstract N2 - Introduction: The burden of COPD is still projected to increase due to many factors such aging of the population, continued exposure to COPD risk factors and patients’ adherence to therapy. Education alone has shown to be not effective, thus there is a necessity to understand better patients’ perspective.Aims: The aim of study was to assess patients’ knowledge about their disease. Better understanding patients’ perspective could be useful for identifying groups of patients requiring special attention.Methods: The questionnaire assessing patients’ knowledge was completed in outpatient settings with pulmonologist.Results: Over 28,000 COPD patients had participated in the study. Most patients represented the C and D stages, the majority were male (63.9%). The majority of patients did not indicate that their disease was COPD, correct answers were given more frequently by women, patients classified as less advanced disease and who had represented higher education level - 68,3%, with only 35,7% secondary school level and 30,3% primary education. Only 44% patients were able to explain the abbreviation, and 62% recognized COPD as their own health problem. Disease was perceived in the context of symptoms –all participants were using different descriptions of dyspnea, even if they didn’t recognized COPD as their health problem.Conclusions: Patients' knowledge is not satisfactory, particularly more advanced disease, lower education status were identified as requiring special attention. Patients identify medical problem in the context of symptoms thus this should be used in the communication and educational strategies.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2020; 56: Suppl. 64, 1837.This abstract was presented at the 2020 ERS International Congress, in session “Respiratory viruses in the "pre COVID-19" era”.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only). ER -