Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Log out

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Research Article

Prevalence of asthma and COPD in general practice in 1992: has it changed since 1977?

P R Tirimanna, C P van Schayck, J J den Otter, C van Weel, C L van Herwaarden, G van den Boom, P M van Grunsven and W J van den Bosch
British Journal of General Practice 1996; 46 (406): 277-281.
P R Tirimanna
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
C P van Schayck
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
J J den Otter
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
C van Weel
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
C L van Herwaarden
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
G van den Boom
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
P M van Grunsven
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
W J van den Bosch
Department of General Practice, University of Nijmegen.
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Asthma and COPD are common diseases of the airways which are mainly diagnosed and treated in general practice. AIM: Various studies have reported an increase in the morbidity of asthma and COPD. There are two possible reasons for such an increase. The first is an apparent increase caused by using different criteria in defining asthma/COPD, and by increased awareness of the disease by doctors and patients. The second is a real increase caused by an increase in the prevalence of airway pathology. The aim of this study was to determine the cause of the observed increase in morbidity. METHOD: In 1977, a sample of 2328 adults from the general population were screened for asthma and COPD. Those screened were then divided into five sub-groups (grades 1-5), according to severity of: (1) respiratory symptoms; and (2) loss in FEV1. The number of patients who were not known to the general practitioner prior to the screening as having asthma or COPD grades 1-5 were also assessed. In 1992, we studied a different sample of 1184 adults of the general population in the same area. We used the same criteria as in 1977 to analyse our results. The number of patients not known to the general practitioner prior to the screening was also studied. RESULTS: The overall prevalence (grades 1-5) of asthma and COPD has increased from +/- 19% in 1977 to +/- 31% in 1992 (range 21-42). The main reason for this is an increase in prevalence of very mild to moderate asthma and COPD (grades 1-3) from 17% in 1977 to 27% in 1992. The prevalence of severe cases (grades 4-5) increased from 2% in 1977 to 4% in 1992. In 1992, around 65% of the patients were not known to the general practitioner as having any grade of asthma or COPD. This was only slightly lower than the 72% in 1977. All patients with a severe disease (grade 5) were known to the general practitioner. CONCLUSIONS: There is a real increase in the prevalence of asthma and COPD, caused predominantly by an increase in the number of mild cases. The percentage of patients not known to the GP were predominantly mild cases.

Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 46 (406)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 46, Issue 406
May 1996
  • Table of Contents
  • Cover (PDF)
  • Index by author
  • Advertising (PDF)
Download PDF
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Prevalence of asthma and COPD in general practice in 1992: has it changed since 1977?
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Prevalence of asthma and COPD in general practice in 1992: has it changed since 1977?
P R Tirimanna, C P van Schayck, J J den Otter, C van Weel, C L van Herwaarden, G van den Boom, P M van Grunsven, W J van den Bosch
British Journal of General Practice 1996; 46 (406): 277-281.

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Prevalence of asthma and COPD in general practice in 1992: has it changed since 1977?
P R Tirimanna, C P van Schayck, J J den Otter, C van Weel, C L van Herwaarden, G van den Boom, P M van Grunsven, W J van den Bosch
British Journal of General Practice 1996; 46 (406): 277-281.
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • Factors influencing help seeking in mentally distressed young adults: a cross-sectional survey.
  • Interprofessional collaboration and interprofessional education.
  • The role of primary care in the prevention of suicide and accidental deaths among young men: an epidemiological study.
Show more Research Article

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2023 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242