Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among Indian population

INTRODUCTION: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is now known as a distinct clinical entity with more consistent or consensus definitions in most international guideline documents such as the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (COLD)¹. The confusion remains in the minds of medical practitioners especially at the primary care levels². OBJECTIVE: To investigate the COPD as a major public health problem in India and call for more research to be directed towards preventive measures and efforts. METHODS: A qualitative survey study design was used to find the prevalence of COPD among Indian population. Purposive samples of 1000 people of both male and female were selected in the India. The participants were selected through ‘cluster sampling’. The samplings were collected through all Indian residence into five zones and in each zone 200 COPD questionnaires were distributed by door to door visiting. Subjects were separated by inclusion and exclusion criteria. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: Data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 16 and level of significance CONCLUSION: The present study concluded that there is low prevalence of COPD (9%) among Indian population whereas this differs in region wise throughout India. COPD is one of major causes of disability. The one of the major cause of COPD are pollution and lack of awareness according to our study research.