According to a national survey, a large number of COPD patients are unaware of the risk factors linked to the disease and had limited knowledge of the current stage of their disease.
Health Union, a medical information website, conducted a national survey of 1,009 patients with COPD, emphysema and bronchitis to assess the daily experiences patients with COPD have.
Some of the takeaway messages from the survey include:
- 62% of patients did not know of COPD nor its risk factors prior to diagnosis;
- 4% of patients reported knowing of future treatments on the horizon for the disease;
- 64% said they wished they knew how COPD would change their life at diagnosis;
- 63% also reported that they wished they knew how to stop or slow the disease at diagnosis;
- respondents reported experiencing several comorbidities including high blood pressure (51%), anxiety disorder (37%) and asthma (31%), and
- 87% reported they did not do as much as they used too and 78% said they wished they had done things different in the past to not get the disease.
Patients also reported they avoided medication because of the cost (42%) and almost half of the respondents (42%) said they would switch to a generic if available.
