Prevalence and associated factors for COPD and pre-COPD in Guizhou Province, China: A cross-sectional study

In China, the incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is escalating swiftly, encompassing almost 100 million patients documented in 2018. Nevertheless, a considerable proportion of individuals persist in a Pre-COPD condition and have not been given a COPD diagnosis. Currently, the prevalence of COPD and Pre-COPD, linked to various associated factors in Guizhou Province, China, is still uncertain.

Adults aged ≥20 years were enrolled in a 2012 cross-sectional survey of Guizhou Province via multistage random sampling. All participants underwent post-bronchodilator pulmonary function tests (PFTs). The 2012 Global Initiative for COPD was used for diagnosis.

The participants were 6400, recruited in Guizhou Province, of whom 5395 provided reliable post-bronchodilator results and were included in the final analysis. Among individuals aged ≥20 years, the overall prevalence of COPD was 9.60%, and of Pre-COPD was 8.92%. The important factors associated with COPD and Pre-COPD included smoking, household smoke pollution, and low level of education. This survey revealed that 31.96% of participants had a history of smoking, and 3.30% had successfully quit smoking. Indoor smoke exposure from biomass burning contributed to 3.24% of the total biomass. Additionally, a lower level of education was identified as a significant associated factor for COPD and Pre-COPD.

In Guizhou, COPD and Pre-COPD prevalence are greater than those in the general Chinese population. The primary associated factors for COPD and Pre-COPD include smoking (especially mother smoking during pregnancy), exposure to kitchen cooking fumes, and low level education.