Differences in diagnostic patterns of obstructive airway disease between areas and sex in Sweden and Finland - the Nordic EpiLung study

Underdiagnosis and misclassification of COPD in Sweden - A Nordic Epilung study

INTRODUCTION

The prevalence of COPD tends to level off in populations with decreasing prevalence of smoking but the extent of underdiagnosis in such populations needs further investigation.

AIM

To investigate underdiagnosis and misclassification of COPD with a focus on socio-economy, lifestyle determinants and healthcare utilization.

METHOD

The 1839 participants were selected from two ongoing large-scale epidemiological research programs: The Obstructive Lung Disease in Northern Sweden Studies and the West Sweden Asthma Study. COPDGOLD was defined according to the fixed post-bronchodilator spirometric criteria FEV1/FVC<0.70 in combination with respiratory symptoms.

RESULTS

Among the 128 participants who fulfilled the criteria for COPDGOLD, the underdiagnosis was 83.6% (n = 107) of which 57.9% were men. The undiagnosed participants were younger, had higher FEV1% of predicted and less frequently a family history of bronchitis. One in four of the undiagnosed had utilized healthcare and had more frequently utilized healthcare due to a burden of respiratory symptoms than the general population without COPD. Underdiagnosis was not related to educational level. Misclassification of COPD was characterized by being a woman with low education, ever smoker, having respiratory symptoms and having a previous asthma diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

In the high income country Sweden, the underdiagnosis of COPD was highly prevalent. Reduced underdiagnosis can contribute to risk factor modification, medical treatment and self-management strategies in early stages of the disease, which may prevent disease progression and improve the quality of life among those affected. Therefore, there is a need to increase the use of spirometry in primary care to improve the diagnostic accuracy.

Multiple adverse childhood experiences and asthma onset in adulthood: Role of adulthood risk factors as mediators

OBJECTIVE

This population-based study of 21,902 Finnish adults examined whether adulthood risk factors for asthma mediate the association between the exposure to multiple adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) assessed retrospectively and the risk of new-onset asthma in adulthood.

METHODS

Baseline characteristics, occurrence of ACEs, and risk factors of asthma in adulthood were collected with a postal survey at baseline in 1998. The participants were linked to records on incident asthma from national health registers from 1999 to 2012. Counterfactual mediation analysis was used to examine the effects of multiple ACEs (≥2) on asthma through adulthood risk factors of asthma (mediators).

RESULTS

Of the 21,902 participants without asthma at baseline, 7552 (34%) were exposed to multiple ACEs during childhood. During the follow-up period, 2046 participants were diagnosed with incident asthma. Exposure to multiple ACEs increased the risk of asthma onset by 31% compared with ≤1 ACE. The association between ACEs and asthma onset was partly mediated by the following adulthood risk factors: severe life events (29%), smoking (15%), allergic rhinitis (8%), low education level (6%), and obesity (3%). Specific stressful life events mediating the ACE-asthma association were 'severe financial difficulties' (24%), 'emotional, physical or sexual violence' (15%), 'major increase in marital problems' (8%), 'severe conflicts with supervisor' (7%), and 'divorce or separation' (5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Exposure to multiple ACEs increased the risk of asthma in adulthood. Adulthood risk factors of asthma mediated a significant proportion of the effect of ACEs on the risk of asthma onset.