Samar Yahya

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced here the results of a landmark population-based study on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).



The project titled BREATHE is an observational cross-sectional epidemiology study in COPD, which was conducted in 11 countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on over 60,000 subjects in order to estimate the prevalence of symptoms of COPD within the general population.



The results were announced at a press briefing at Park Hyatt Hotel in Jeddah on Monday.



COPD is the generic name given to a number of conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD causes the airways into the lungs to become narrower, making it difficult for air to move into and out of the lungs. The disease first appears in the form of a cough, which gradually becomes more persistent. Over time, sufferers may find that they become short of breath, even when they are resting. People with COPD are also at greater risk of chest infections, and this can make their symptoms worse in the short term.



According to the study, more than 13 million people in the MENA region suffer from COPD, a number that is secondary only to cigarette smoking. The prevalence estimate is a conservative number given the effects of other risk factors such as shisha smoking and burning of biomass fuels were not considered in the study.



The BREATHE study demonstrated that the prevalence rate in Saudi Arabia is as high as 2.4 percent in the population aged 40 years and above. The overall prevalence in the 11 countries stood 3.6 percent, which is almost similar to the portion of the population who has asthma or chronic heart failure and 10 times higher than the number of people with epilepsy in the same age group. Until now, little information has been available concerning the prevalence of COPD in MENA and the true extent of the disease’s burden in the region has gone largely unrecognized.



Mortality and disability from COPD are expected to rise in developing countries over future decades, primarily due to the increased rate of smoking, a known risk factor for the disease. The study also revealed that smoking remains a major and growing public health issue in the region with smoking rates as high as 30 percent.



A number of important findings that emerged from the study will have a significant impact on the management of COPD in the MENA region over the coming years. The study revealed that less than 10 percent of treatment use is compliant with current treatment guidelines. Furthermore, the health economic burden of managing the disease is huge; a total of 1,000 consultations, 190 emergency visits and 175 hospitalizations per hour are attributable to COPD in the 11 countries where the study was conducted.



Many patients are poorly informed about COPD and its management and much can be done to improve disease education. Thirty percent of patients are not sure of the underlying cause of their disease, while 50 percent do not acknowledge smoking as a potential cause. More worryingly, 65 percent of patients diagnosed with the disease continue to smoke on a regular basis.



The press conference was hosted by Dr. Ayman Korayem, consultant in respiratory and sleep medicine at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah; Dr. Majdi Idrees, consultant in respiratory medicine at the Armed Forces Hospital, Riyadh; Dr. Siraj Wali, consultant in respiratory and sleep medicine at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah; Masood Jaffery, vice president and general manager of GKS Saudi Arabia; and Dr. Mohamed Hany Soliman, medical director at GSK.



Subjects of the study were recruited via a selection process that used randomly generated telephone numbers.



Subsequent telephone interviews identified individuals likely to have COPD and these patients were asked to complete a more detailed questionnaire that assessed risk factors, disease history, symptoms, impact on daily life, management of the disease and its financial impact.



In total, 457,258 telephone numbers were generated and contact was established with 210,121 subjects of whom 83,447 were eligible and 62,086 participated in the study. The overall response rate was 74.2 percent.