Awareness of knowledge about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and related factors in residents aged 40 years and older in China, 2014

Abstract

Objective: To understand the awareness of knowledge about COPD and related factors in residents aged ≥40 years in China. Methods: Through multi-stage stratified cluster sampling, residents aged ≥40 years were selected from 125 sites of COPD surveillance (2014-2015) in 31 provinces of China for a face to face questionnaire survey. The demographic characteristics and awareness rate of knowledge about COPD among 75 082 subjects were described as frequency and percentage. The awareness rate of knowledge about COPD and its 95% confidence interval (CI) among the residents aged ≥40 years were estimated with complicated sampling weights. Meanwhile, the knowledge awareness related factors were screened in complicated sampling data. Results: The awareness rate of COPD was 9.2%. The awareness rate of pulmonary function test was 3.6% and the awareness rate of COPD-related knowledge was 5.8%. All of the awareness rates were associated with gender, age, education level and occupation. Besides, the awareness rate of pulmonary function test and COPD-related knowledge were related with living area. Compared with females, the ORs of the three awareness rates among males were 0.88, 0.81 and 0.78. Compared with the residents aged ≥70 years, the ORs of the three awareness rates among those aged 60-69 years were 1.28, 1.08 and 1.51. Compared with the residents with education level of primary school or below, the ORs of the three awareness rates among those with college degree or above were 2.28, 3.43 and 3.14. The OR of the awareness rate of pulmonary function test among the residents in the eastern area was 1.77 compared with those in the central area. The ORs of the awareness rate of COPD-related knowledge among the residents in the eastern and western areas were 1.95 and 2.16 compared with those in the central area(all above P<0.05). Among COPD symptoms, the awareness rate of dyspnea was highest (67.9%), and among the risk factors for COPD, the awareness rate of smoking was highest (81.3%). The source of awareness of COPD for most residents was television program (38.2%). Conclusion: The awareness rate of knowledge about COPD was low in residents aged ≥40 years in China in 2014. It is necessary to strengthen the health education about COPD to improve the prevention and control of the disease.