UC Irvine

Introduction

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a respiratory disease that often goes undiagnosed, particularly in its early stages.

Objective

To examine sociodemographic, general health, and COPD specific factors, including severity of lung obstruction, that are associated with healthcare provider-diagnosed COPD among U.S. adults.

Methods

NHANES cross-sectional data collected from 2007-2012 on adults aged 40-79 years (n=10,219) were analyzed. The primary outcome was self-reported COPD diagnosis with predictive factors analyzed via chi-square and logistic regression analyses.

Results

During 2007-2012, 5.2% of US adults aged 40-79 reported being diagnosed with COPD. Among those diagnosed, 50.8% reported fair or poor health, 47.1% were currently smoking cigarettes, 49.1% were taking prescription respiratory medication, 36.4% had moderate or worse lung obstruction, and nearly 90% had one or more respiratory symptoms. Logistic regression revealed positive associations between receiving a COPD diagnosis and the following: being white (AOR: 3.08, 95% CI: 1.82-5.20); being aged 60-79 years (AOR: 1.65, 95% CI: 1.07-2.53); reporting fair/poor health (AOR: 2.91, CI: 1.55-5.46); having 4-9 (AOR: 3.5, CI: 1.3-9.4) or 10 or more healthcare visits in prior year (AOR: 5.06, CI: 1.62-15.77); being a former (AOR: 1.75, CI: 1.2-2.5) or current smoker (AOR: 1.70, CI: 1.17-2.48); having more severe lung obstruction (AOR: 4.90, CI: 3.28-7.32); having 3 or more respiratory symptoms (AOR: 22.07, CI: 12.03-40.49).

Conclusions

Multiple factors are associated with self-reported COPD diagnosis with number of reported respiratory symptoms having the strongest association. After controlling for other factors, having mild lung obstruction was not associated with being diagnosed.