Objective: To investigate the current status of prevalence, prevention and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in rural area in China.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey of COPD was conducted in Beijing city, Shanghai city, Guangdong province, Liaoning province, Tianjin city, Chongqing province and Shanxi province. A population-based cluster sample was randomly selected from each rural area. In the selected community, all residents at least 40 years old were recruited, and interviewed with a modified standardized questionnaire from the international burden of obstructive lung diseases (BOLD) study. All participants were tested with spirometry. Those with airflow limitation were performed on post-bronchodilator spirometry. The post-bronchodilator a ratio of forced expiratory volume in one second to forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) less than 70% was defined as the diagnostic criteria of COPD.
Results: (1) Data of 9434 participants was valid for analysis, with a valid response rate of 83.6%; the prevalence of COPD in rural was 8.8% (830/9434), 12.8% in male and 5.4% in female. (2) The percentage of smoking and the exposure to biomass smoke in rural was 43.0% (4059/9434) and 83.1% (7835/9434) respectively; cigarettes cessation rate was 17.5%; only 12.4% (502/4059) of smokers had received advice to quit smoking. (3) Among COPD patients, only 30.0% (249/830) had ever been diagnosed as COPD, bronchitis, emphysema, or asthma, 2.4% (20/830) had ever received spirometric tests, and 74.5% were current smokers; only 7.9% (50/634) COPD patients in stage two or over had received regular drug treatment.
Conclusion: There was high prevalence and poor prevention and management for COPD in rural areas. Therefore, an enforced prevention and management for COPD are urgent.