Médecine pulmonaire et respiratoire

COPD and Public Opinion: Results of a Survey in the General Population

Abstract

Dal Negro RW, Guerriero M and Turco P

The assessment of public opinion’s belief represents an important instrument in order to evaluate the best actions aimed at the containment of all conditions of substantial social impact.

Aim: Aim of the study was to investigate the current awareness and the perception of COPD in the Italian general population.

Methods: the opinion survey was carried out by means of the Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing Technique (CATI). A pre-determined set of ten simple closed questions aimed to investigate the subjects’ basic knowledge and awareness on COPD was the operational instrument.

Results: respondents were 1,170 individuals, representative of the national general population. The final redemption rate of the survey was 14%, such as one successful interview out of 7 attempts: this result is clearly mirroring the poor appeal of COPD in the public opinion. The observed prevalence of COPD was very close to that officially known (5-6%). Both the public knowledge and awareness of COPD determinants proved quite confused, except for smoking. The convincements of the majority of respondents were inconsistent, particularly as concerning the intrinsic severity; the duration, and the progression of COPD. People proved particularly unaware of the social and the economic impact of COPD. “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” represented a terminology very difficult for espondents: they frequently stopped the call because they did not understand and feared these terms. The final suggestion is that the public belief on COPD still is limited to a few convincements emotionally driven, but not based on a true knowledge of the disease, particularly within younger individuals, who are the most unaware, but also the major responsible of the future burdening of COPD.