Continuing to Confront COPD International Surveys: comparison of patient and physician perceptions about COPD risk and management

Abstract

Purpose

Using data from the Continuing to Confront COPD International Physician and Patient Surveys, this paper describes physicians’ attitudes and beliefs regarding chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prognosis, and compares physician and patient perceptions with respect to COPD.

Methods

In 12 countries worldwide, 4,343 patients with COPD were identified through systematic screening of population samples, and 1,307 physicians who regularly saw patients with COPD were sampled from in-country professional databases. Both patients and physicians completed surveys about their COPD knowledge, beliefs, and perceptions; physicians answered further questions about diagnostic methods and treatment choices for COPD.

Results

Most physicians (79%) responded that the long-term health outlook for patients with COPD has improved over the past decade, largely attributed to the introduction of better medications. However, patient access to medication remains an issue in many countries, and some physicians (39%) and patients (46%) agreed/strongly agreed with the statement “there are no truly effective treatments for COPD”. There was strong concordance between physicians and patients regarding COPD management practices, including the use of spirometry (86% of physicians and 76% of patients reporting they used/had undergone a spirometry test) and smoking cessation counseling (76% of physicians reported they counseled their smoking patients at every clinic visit, and 71% of smoking patients stated that they had received counseling in the past year). However, the groups differed in their perception about the role of smoking in COPD, with 78% of physicians versus 38% of patients strongly agreeing with the statement “smoking is the cause of most cases of COPD”.

Conclusion

The Continuing to Confront COPD International Surveys demonstrate that while physicians and patients largely agreed about COPD management practices and the need for more effective treatments for COPD, a gap exists about the causal role of smoking in COPD.

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis

Journal ID (publisher-id): International Journal of COPD

Title: International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Publisher: Dove Medical Press

ISSN (Print): 1176-9106

ISSN (Electronic): 1178-2005

Publication date Collection: 2015

Publication date (Electronic): 20 January 2015

Volume: 10

Pages: 159-172

Affiliations

[1 ]Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil

[2 ]Worldwide Epidemiology, GlaxoSmithKline, Uxbridge, UK

[3 ]Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

[4 ]Pulmonology Research Institute, Moscow, Russia

[5 ]University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands

[6 ]University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea

[7 ]Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan

[8 ]University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, KY, USA

[9 ]Worldwide Epidemiology, GlaxoSmithKline, Wavre, Belgium

Author notes

Correspondence: Sarah H Landis, Worldwide Epidemiology, GlaxoSmithKline, Stockley Park West, Uxbridge, UB11 1BT, UK, Email sarah.h.landis@ 123456gsk.com

Article

Publisher ID: copd-10-159

DOI: 10.2147/COPD.S74315

PMC ID: 4310342

Copyright statement: © 2015 Menezes et al. This work is published by Dove Medical Press Limited, and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution – Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License

License:

The full terms of the License are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed.

Categories

Subject: Original Research