The GOLD Summit on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in low- and middle-income countries.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the top three causes of death worldwide, but governments and non-governmental organisations have not given its prevention and treatment the priority it requires. This is particularly true in low- and middle-income countries, where most of the people suffering from this disease live. The United Nations (UN) has targeted a reduction of premature deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by a third by 2030; however, a coordinated UN/World Health Organization (WHO) strategy to address the burden of COPD (one of the most important NCDs) is still lacking. To explore the extent of the problem and inform the development of policies to improve the situation, the Board of Directors of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) held a 1-day Summit. The key themes that emerged were the need to ensure accurate data on prevalence, raise awareness of the disease among the public, healthcare professionals and governments, including the fact that COPD aetiology goes beyond smoking (and other inhaled pollutants) and includes poor lung development in early life, and ensure that spirometry and both pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies are available and affordable. Here, we present the actions that must be taken to address the impact of COPD. We believe that the WHO is particularly well-positioned to co-ordinate an attack on COPD, and GOLD will do all it can to help and rally support.

Respiratory medication use in primary care among COPD subjects in four Latin American countries.

OBJECTIVES: To assess respiratory medications used, factors predicting treatment and patterns of corticosteroid (CS) use in primary care in Latin America among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. METHODS: COPD was defined as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) < 0.70 or previous medical diagnosis. To determine factors associated with respiratory medication use, crude and adjusted Poisson regression models were performed. RESULTS: Of 1743 patients interviewed, 1540 completed spirometry, 309 had COPD (FEV1/FVC<0.70) and 102 had a prior diagnosis of COPD. Among spirometry-defined COPD patients, 36.6% used respiratory medications: bronchodilators (BD) 24.9%, CS 13.3%, BD+CS 15.2%. In those with a previous diagnosis, 79.4% used respiratory medications: BD 64.7%, CS 37.6%, BD+CS 25.6%. A total of 81/102 (79%) patients with prior diagnosis were using CS despite not having airway obstruction or exacerbation. In spirometry-defined COPD, dyspnoea (OR 2.09, 95%CI 1.13-3.87), severe airway obstruction (OR 3.36, 95%CI 1.40-8.03) and exacerbation in the past year (OR 5.52, 95%CI 2.19-13.89) were associated with increased respiratory medication use. Among those with a previous diagnosis, use of respiratory medications was associated with cough (OR 5.31, 95%CI 1.28-22.12), severe airway obstruction (OR 29.50, 95%CI 3.18-273.30) and fewer years of schooling (OR 0.12, 95%CI 0.03-0.52). CONCLUSIONS: In the primary care setting, undertreatment is frequent in spirometry-defined COPD patients, and there is increased use of CS (overtreatment) in patients with a previous diagnosis of COPD.

Sex-related differences in COPD in five Latin American cities: the PLATINO study.

There is evidence to suggest sex differences exists in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) clinical expression. We investigated sex differences in health status perception, dyspnoea and physical activity, and factors that explain these differences using an epidemiological sample of subjects with and without COPD. PLATINO is a cross-sectional, population-based study. We defined COPD as post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity ratio <0.70, and evaluated health status perception (Short Form (SF)-12 questionnaire) and dyspnoea (Medical Research Council scale). Among 5,314 subjects, 759 (362 females) had COPD and 4,555 (2,850 females) did not. In general, females reported more dyspnoea and physical limitation than males. 54% of females without COPD reported a dyspnoea score ≥ 2 versus 35% of males. A similar trend was observed in females with COPD (63% versus 44%). In the entire study population, female sex was a factor explaining dyspnoea (OR 1.60, 95%CI 1.40-1.84) and SF-12 physical score (OR -1.13, 95%CI -1.56- -0.71). 40% of females versus 28% of males without COPD reported their general health status as fair-to-poor. Females with COPD showed a similar trend (41% versus 34%). Distribution of COPD severity was similar between sexes, but currently smoking females had more severe COPD than currently smoking males. There are important sex differences in the impact that COPD has on the perception of dyspnoea, health status and physical activity limitation.

Prevalencia de la enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica y sus principales factores de riesgo: proyecto PLATINO en Montevideo / Prevalence and risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: the PLATINO project in Montevideo

La enfermedad pulmonar obstructiva crónica (EPOC), caracterizada por limitación al flujo aéreo, se ha convertido en una causa mayor de morbimortalidad en los países desarrollados. En américa LAtina los datos epidemiológicos son escasos. PLATINO (Proyecto Latinoamericano de Investigación en Obstrucción Pulmonar) es un estudio multicéntrico dirigido a medir la prevalencia de esta enfermedad en 5 ciudades latinoamericanas, sus principales factores de riesgo, describir los síntomas respiratorios, evaluar la sensibilidad y especificidad de los mismos así como correlacionar el diagnóstico médico previo con el diagnóstico funcional de EPOC. La selección de la muestra fue realizada en varias etapas, agrupada por conglomerads, de manera de analizar una población representativa de la ciudad de Montevideo y el aréa metropolitana con edad mayor o igual a 40 años. De 1.140 sujetos elegibles contestaron un cuestionario estandarizado 943 personas y se completaron 885 espirometrías posbroncodilatador. La prevalencia de EPOC considerando los principales criterios funcionales diagnósticos fue: para la relación volumen respiratorio forzado en el primer seguno/capacidad vital forzada (VEF1/CVF) <70: 19,7 por ciento. Según la definición del Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) (VEF1/CVF <70 por ciento y VEF1 <80 por ciento predicto) fue 7,8 por ciento ya que cuantifica además el grado de severidad de la enfermedad (estadio II). El tabaquismo actual se presentó en 28 por ciento de los sujetos encestados. Estos presentaron 47 por ciento más EPOC que los no fumadores; esta probabilidad fue 78 por ciento mayor para aquellos fumadores con un índice de paquetes/año mayor a 10. La baja sensibilidad y especificidad de los síntomas respiratorios y el subdiagnóstico de esta enfermedad deben promover la detección temprana de limitación de flujo aéreo por espirometría, para instrumentar medidas terapéuticas adecuadas.