Mecit Süerdem1 , Nurhan Sarıoğlu2 , Nalan Ogan3 , Sertaç Arslan4 , Gülfem Yıldırım5 , Özlem Erçen Diken4 , Fulsen Bozkuş6 , Gazi Gülbaş7 , Nilgün Yılmaz Demirci8 , Aysun Şengül9 , Hakan Tanrıverdi10 , Ercan Kurtipek11 2Department of Chest Diseases, Balıkesir University Faculty of Medicine, Balıkesir, Türkiye
3Department of Chest Diseases, Ufuk University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye
4Department of Chest Diseases, Hitit University Faculty of Medicine, Çorum, Türkiye
5Department of Chest Diseases, Karatay University Faculty of Medicine, Konya, Türkiye
6Department of Chest Diseases, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University Faculty of Medicine, Kahramanmaraş, Türkiye
7Department of Chest Diseases, İnönü University Faculty of Medicine, Malatya, Türkiye
8Department of Chest Diseases, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye
9Department of Chest Diseases, Sakarya University Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Türkiye
10Department of Chest Diseases, Echomar Hospital, Ereğli Faculty of Medicine, Zonguldak, Türkiye
11Department of Chest Diseases, University of Health Science, Konya Research and Training Hospital, Konya, Türkiye
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study aimed to obtain real-life data of patients diagnosed with
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at least one year ago, including smoking history, inhaler device training, and the number of exacerbations.
METHODS: This study was planned as a nationwide, prospective, observational, multicenter, and noninterventional study, and web-based electronic case forms were used to register the patients.
RESULTS: A total of 460 patients from 11 centers were included, of whom 88.3% were males. Of the total patients, 137 (29.8%) were current smokers, and 292 (63.5%) were ex-smokers. One hundred twenty-four (29.6%) patients did not receive inhaler device training. Repeated inhaler device training in the follow-up visits was not performed in 255 (60.8%) patients. Of the total participants, 187 (41.0%) reported no exacerbations in the previous year. The mean number of exacerbations per person over the previous year was 1.19. The annual rates of influenza and pneumococcal vaccines were 34.8% and 4.2%, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients should be trained more efficiently in the risks of COPD, use of inhaler devices, exacerbations, and improving quality of life.
