To study the risk factors and clinical profile of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is one of the most common non-communicable diseases with tobacco exposure as the most important recognized risk factor. However, a considerable proportion of COPD patients have no significant smoking exposure. This nonsmoker phenotype with variable pathophysiology requires a patient-tailored therapeutic approach to decrease the increasing  Copd burden. Our study is aimed to analyze the risk factors, clinical profile, and demographics of Nonsmoker COPD patients as compared to smoker counterparts.

OBJECTIVES: To study the risk factor and clinical profile of COPD in nonsmokers

STUDY  DESIGN: A Hospital-based observational cross-sectional study.

MATERIALS  & METHODS: In this prospective observational study 210 patients were studied between Sep 2018 till March 2020. Patients aged above 18 years, of both sexes with spirometrically confirmed COPD, or those presenting with clinical features suggestive of Chronic Bronchitis were subjected to spirometry for Diagnosis, were further categorized into smoker COPD control group and nonsmoker COPD case group. Clinical and demographic variables were considered and studied in these groups and statistical analysis made via SPSS v24 with values of less than 5% ( p = 0.05 ) considered significant.

RESULTS: Among the 210 patients studied 98 were nonsmokers and the rest were smokers. In both, the groups advanced age and inhabitants formed the majority. Females comprised the majority (91%) of the nonsmoker group. The important statistical risk factors seen in Nonsmokers included biomass smoke exposure (95%), animal farming (60.2%), old treated pulmonary Koch's (15.3%), recurrent childhood RTI (34.7%). In clinical profiling majority of Nonsmoker COPD patients (42%) were in the Gold group c, and a majority of smoker COPD (49% ) belonged to group D 

CONCLUSION: COPD is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide and cigarette smoking is regarded as its most important risk factor. With its increasing prevalence its imperative to recognize non-smoker COPD patients as a distinct phenotype requiring a patient-tailored therapeutic approach and risk factor recognition. Our study tries to identify the same.