ЧАСТОТА ВИЯВЛЕННЯ ТА ОСОБЛИВОСТІ КЛІНІЧНОГО ПЕРЕБІГУ ХРОНІЧНОГО ОБСТРУКТИВНОГО ЗАХВОРЮВАННЯ ЛЕГЕНЬ СЕРЕД ОСІБ ПРОФЕСІЙНОГО КОЛЕКТИВУ ЗАКРИТОГО ТИПУ

Diagnostics of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the difficult medical problems. The main COPD risk factor is smoking (including passive one). Other COPD risk factors are air pollution with industrial waste, fuel combustion products and discharge gases. Unfavorable occupational conditions, weather conditions and climate (fog and humidity), infections could also be considered as COPD risk factors. Study objective is to evaluate the incidence of COPD among individuals who consider themselves healthy within a professional team of a closed type and to define special features of the disease course. Methods and materials. The study was conducted in several phases: the first phase was filling in an original questionnaire in order to identify COPD symptoms and risk factors, the second stage - computer spirography with bronchodilator response. The study involved employees of a company of a closed type in Khmelnytska oblast which consider themselves healthy undergo medical examinations twice a year. We established that 216 people (41.1%) and under the questionnaire scored 18 or more points, thus evidencing a high risk of COPD development. Of them there were 115 women (53.2%) and 101 men (46.8%). We found undiagnosed COPD in 79 individuals (14.3%), including 31 women (39.2%) and 48 men (60.8%). Most often, patients with newly diagnosed COPD complained of cough, shortness of breath, wheezing and frequent respiratory infections. We revealed that 53 persons (67.1%) with newly diagnosed COPD were smokers and 49 (28.1%) were smokers without COPD. Evaluation of basic parameters of quality of life presented no statistically significant difference existing in the main parameters of quality of life in groups of patients with COPD and without COPD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]