TY - JOUR T1 - Increasing COPD awareness JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 833 LP - 852 DO - 10.1183/09031936.06.00025905 VL - 27 IS - 4 AU - J. Zielinski AU - M. Bednarek AU - D. Górecka AU - G. Viegi AU - S. S. Hurd AU - Y. Fukuchi AU - C. K. W. Lai AU - P. X. Ran AU - F. W. S. Ko AU - S. M. Liu AU - J. P. Zheng AU - N. S. Zhong AU - M. S. M. Ip AU - P. A. Vermeire Y1 - 2006/04/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/27/4/833.abstract N2 - SERIES “THE GLOBAL BURDEN OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE” Edited by K.F. Rabe and J.B. Soriano Number 4 in this Series Summary ⇓ Early diagnosis and smoking cessation are the only available methods to stop the progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of early detection of airflow limitation (AL) in a population with high risk for COPD, using spirometric screening. Smokers aged ≥40 yrs with a smoking history of ≥10 pack-yrs were invited to visit a local outpatient chest clinic for simple spirometry (forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC)). Smoking history was recorded, followed by smoking cessation advice relating the results of spirometry to the smoking behaviour. Subjects who did not fulfil the above criteria (younger and/or nonsmokers) were also screened. A total 110,355 subjects were investigated; they were aged 53.5±11.5 yrs and 58.2% were males. Of the total amount of subjects, 64% were current smokers, 25.1% were former smokers and 10.9% were lifelong nonsmokers. Spirometry tests were within normal values for 70.3%, and 20.3% showed signs of AL: this was mild in 7.6%, moderate in 6.7% and severe in 5.9%. The remaining 8.3% of subjects presented with a restrictive pattern of ventilatory impairment. Airflow limitation was found in 23% of smokers aged ≥40 yrs with a history of ≥10 pack-yrs. This study concluded that large-scale voluntary spirometry screening of the population with high risk for COPD detects a large number of subjects with AL. Introduction COPD is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and evidence suggests that the mortality rate is increasing 1–3. Assuming that the current trends in mortality continue, COPD will move from the sixth leading cause of death worldwide in 1990, to the third in 2020 4. Recent epidemiological … ER -