An estimated 10,000+ Maltese patients suffer from the disease

GSK is extending its support to COPD sufferers on the occasion of World COPD Day, a milestone that takes place each year to raise awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

Affecting nearly 210 million people worldwide¹, the annual cost of COPD in Europe now exceeds €38.6 billion². In Malta, it is estimated that there are over 10,000 patients that are suffering from the disease. This is based on the latest European Health Interview Survey which estimates a 4% prevalence of COPD in Malta³. A large number of these patients remain undiagnosed or are diagnosed when they are already in an advanced stage of the disease⁴.

COPD is an umbrella term to describe conditions that limit airflow to the lungs. This includes both chronic bronchitis and emphysema. This directly impacts patients’ health, their day-to-day life and ultimately survival⁵. The main symptom of COPD is breathlessness which can stop people from performing simple activities like washing and getting dressed⁶. The main cause of COPD is smoking⁵.

In a recent GSK survey of COPD patients in the UK, the emotional impact of breathlessness was found to be far higher than previously understood, with as many as 41% of patients not proactively discussing the impact of breathlessness with their doctors¹³.

Support for the preparation of this article was funded by GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies

References:

[1]. World Health Organization. Chronic Respiratory Diseases. Available from: http://www.who.int/gard/publications/chronic_respiratory_diseases.pdf

2. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of COPD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). 2014. Available from http://www.goldcopd.org/uploads/users/files/GOLD_Report2014_Feb07.pdf [Last accessed: July 2014]

3.European Health Interview Survey 2008 Summary statistics

4.Mapel D.W. et al. Severity of COPD at initial spirometry-confirmed diagnosis: data from medical charts and administrative claims. Int J of COPD, 2011

5.NHS Choices. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [online] 2012. Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Last accessed: October 2014]

6. Thomas, M. et al. Prim Care Respir J 2013; 22(1): 101-111

7. Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Pocket guide to COPD diagnosis, management and prevention. 2011. Available from: http://www.goldcopd.org/uploads/users/files/GOLD_Pocket_2014_Jun11.pdf [Last accessed: July 2014]

8. Müllerová H et al. Disease burden of dyspnea in a primary care COPD population. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 2012;185:A1518

9.Hurst et al. Susceptibility to Exacerbation in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2010;363;1128-38

10. Jones at al. Health-related quality of life in patients by COPD severity within primary care in Europe. Respiratory Medicine. 2011:105(1);57–66

11. Fletcher et al. COPD: The New Workplace Epidemic. 2011. Available from: https://www.copdfoundation.org/pdfs/COPD-Uncovered-Report-2011.pdf [Last accessed: July 2014]

12. Vermeire. The burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Respiratory Medicine. 2002:96;Suppl C:S3-10

13. GSK Breathlessness in COPD Patient Survey. IPSOS Healthcare. April 2014

14. GSK Breathlessness in COPD Healthcare Professional Survey. IPSOS Healthcare. April 2014