2018 Volume 45 Issue 6 Pages 749-754
The Nippon COPD Epidemiology (NICE) study estimated that 5.3 million Japanese people over the age of 40 are afflicted with COPD. Although COPD is one of the known life-style diseases, there is currently limited awareness that it is one of the three most common life-style diseases in Japan.
It is important to identify patients with COPD in the early stage to prevent exacerbation. However, it is difficult to identify patients with early-stage COPD, as a diagnosis of COPD can only be made if spirometric analysis reveals an FEV1.0% of less than 70% and spirometory is not currently included as an item in regular health examinations in Japan.
Recently, It has been reported that a COPD questionnaire is effective for identifying patients with air-flow limitation in general health examinations. Screening for COPD useing questionnaire administered during a health examination is easier than performing spirometory and could identify a lot of COPD patients, especially patients with asymptomatic early-stage COPD. Therefore, we recommend that a COPD questionnaire be used in more health examinations to increase the detection of early-stage COPD. Furthermore, aggressive educational activities should be implemented to increase awareness of COPD.
