Prevalence and Risk Factors of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease among Nonsmokers: Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010-2012).

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of COPD among non-smoking adults, and to investigate the risk factors that affect disease occurrence.

METHODS

The data from the 5th Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHNES) has been used, and 5,489 non-smoking adults aged between 40 to 79 years with diagnosable FEV1/FVC were selected therefrom as the subjects of this study.

RESULTS

The prevalence of COPD in non-smokers was observed to be 6.9%. The development of the COPD showed statistically significant difference among groups; males showed about 2.54 times (95% CI: 1.410∼146.612) higher rates compared to females, subjects aged 70-79 showed about 3.08 times (95% CI: 1.823∼11.437) higher rates compared to those aged 40-49, subjects whose education level was elementary school or less showed about 5.36 times (95% CI: 1.341∼21.393) higher rates compared to those who are college or more, and subjects who are middle school showed about 4.72 times (95% CI: 1.374∼16.217) higher rates compared to the college or more.

CONCLUSION

It is confirmed that development of the COPD in non-smokers reach significance. For the prevention of the disease, there is a need to identify COPD-related risk factors in males and the elderly and provide appropriate nursing intervention, and to develop health-related education programs for those with low educational background to take in order to promote the improvement of lung health.