Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Prevalence and costs of COPD
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

We assessed the prevalence of subjects with chronic cough and phlegm -defined at risk of COPD according to the GOLD- their main characteristics, and the distribution of smoking habits in Italian young adults. In the frame of a multicentre, cross-sectional survey on people aged 20-44 years from the general population, 18,873 subjects (72.7%) replied to a postal questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. The adjusted prevalence of subjects at risk of COPD was 11.9% (95% CI: 11.4-12.4), being 11.8% (11.1-12.5) in males and 12.0% (11.4-12.7) in females; the adjusted prevalence of current smokers was 33.3% (32.5-34) being 37.1% (36.1- 38.1) in males and 29.9% (29-30.8) in females. About 20% of subjects reported coexisting asthma; they were characterized by younger age, more frequent wheezing (respectively, 71% vs 29.4%; p<0.001) and nasal allergies (respectively, 64.1% vs 31.1%; p<0.001) and lower percentage of current smokers than subjects reporting only chronic cough and phlegm. Gender (women), smoking and low socio-economic status were significantly and independently associated with chronic cough and phlegm, current smoking playing the major role, particularly in the subgroup of subjects without asthma. The prevalence of subjects at risk of COPD among young adults is impressively high. Changes in attitude to cigarette smoking and the development of effective smoking cessation strategies are necessary. Women, in particular, should be aware of their increased risk. Among subjects with chronic cough and phlegm a clinical diagnosis with the early identification of those already with bronchial obstruction is imperative; the follow-up of those only symptomatic could add up-date information on the natural history of COPD.

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I. Cerveri, S. Accordini, A. Corsico, M. C. Zoia, P. Fulgoni, M. Beccaria, S. Colato, L. Carozzi, G. Viegi, R. de Marco (Pisa, Italy). How many young adults are at risk of COPD?. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 825

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