Prevalence of physical disability in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and associated risk factors

To analyze the prevalence of disability among patients with COPD as compared to people without this lung disease and to identify sociodemographic and health factors associated with these physical limitations.

We performed a cross-sectional study based on data taken from the European Health Interview Survey for Spain (EHISS) 2009. The survey included adults aged 40 to 79 years (n = 13624). We identified patients with COPD using a direct question from the survey. The main study variable was disability, including basic activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities (IADLs), and mobility disability (MD). Independent variables analyzed included socio-demographic characteristics, self-perceived health status, presence of mental disease and co-morbid chronic conditions and lifestyles.

The overall prevalence of self-reported COPD was 7.2%. The total prevalence of ADL, IADL and MD was higher among men suffering COPD than among the population without this disease (16.39% vs. 4.91%; 27.70% vs. 12.45%; 48.94% vs. 17.46% respectively). These significant differences were also observed among women with equivalent figures of: 23.25% vs. 8.71%; 31.03% vs. 10.53%; 64.83% vs. 34.08%. Being older, having a self-perceived health status of "fair/poor/very poor" and suffering from mental disease (anxiety and/or depression) were factors associated with a higher probability of reporting any disability in both men and women suffering from COPD.

Higher rates of disability were seen among COPD patients compared to the general population. Among COPD patients older age, depression, anxiety and worse self-rated health were associated with higher disability.