Abstract
Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitute a substantial burden to healthcare services. Analysis of national healthcare datasets offers the possibility to advance understanding about the changing epidemiology of COPD.To investigate the epidemiology of physician-diagnosed COPD in general practice.Cross-sectional study.A total of 422 general practices in England contributing to the QRESEARCH database.Data were extracted on 2.8 million patients, including age, sex, socioeconomic status, and geographical area. Trends over time for recorded physician diagnosis of COPD were analysed (2001-2005).There was little change over time in the incidence rate of COPD (2005: 2.0 per 1000 patient-years, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.0 to 2.1), but a significant increase in lifetime prevalence rate (2001: 13.5 per 1000 patients [95% CI = 13.4 to 13.7]; 2005: 16.8 [95% CI = 16.7 to 17.0]; P
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 277-284 |
| Journal | British Journal of General Practice |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 576 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2010 |
Keywords
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- epidemiology
- general practice
- QRESEARCH
- socioeconomic status