[The epidemiologic situation of chronic obstructive lung diseases in the population in Croatia]

In the introduction the importance of epidemiologic studies of COPD is indicated, thus stressing the complexity of their realization and high cost of these projects. According to the data that are gathered through every day routine work of health service and health statistics the authors try to find out the place of COPD in the population of Croatia studying the year 1987. In general medicine 24.8% visits due to respiratory diseases have been registered, in occupational medicine 24.8%, school medicine 43.2%, pediatric health care 60.8%. In this number COPD are represented by 8.6% with 111.822 visits, occupational medicine by 3.8% with 18.445 visits, school medicine by 4.2% with 22.629 visits and pediatric health care by 5.5% with 40.961 visits. On the whole in this year in Croatia there were 4.214 visits on 100,000 population due to COPD. According to the data of pneumology service the incidence of COPD is 164 0/0000 and the prevalence 691,6 0/0000. In pneumology stationaries 6.207 patients with COPD or 21.5% were treated. In the proclaimed invalidity the COPD is to be found on the fourth place. In the mortality the respiratory diseases are found on the sixth place out of which half of them are COPD. By the follow-up of these data a lot of time and money is wasted without giving the adequate results. The method of analytically-specialistic register for COPD is explained as a simple, economic and efficient method for studying COPD in the population.