Numbers of people diagnosed with COPD

How many people in the UK have a diagnosis of COPD?

An estimated 1.2 million people are living with diagnosed COPD considerably
more than the 835,000 estimated by the Department of Health in 2011. In terms
of diagnosed cases, this makes COPD the second most common lung disease in
the UK, after asthma. Around 2% of the whole population 4.5% of all people
aged over 40 live with diagnosed COPD.

Our research also suggests that prevalence is growing. The number of people
who have ever had a diagnosis of COPD has increased by 27% in the last
decade, from under 1,600 to nearly 2,000 per 100,000. This could mean that
more undiagnosed cases are being found, or that the disease is becoming more
common. Changes in record-keeping could also be a factor.

However, prevalence increased by 9% between 2008 and 2012, while record-

keeping practices remained the same. Earlier research has indicated that up to
two-thirds of people with COPD remain undiagnosed. New research is required
to see if this is still valid, and to ascertain the current prevalence of the disease.

Estimated numbers of people ever diagnosed with COPD 200412

2004200520062007200820092010201120120500,0001,000,0001,500,000

Year Number of people in the UK with COPD

2004 991,263
Year Number of people in the UK with COPD

2005 1,018,732

2006 1,047,681

2007 1,094,567

2008 1,126,562

2009 1,161,975

2010 1,176,456

2011 1,222,113

2012 1,201,685
How many people have been diagnosed with COPD in each region of the UK?

There was a higher proportion of people diagnosed with COPD in the north of the
UK Scotland and the North East and North West of England. This was seen
throughout the years 200412.

Number of people ever diagnosed with COPD per 100,000, 200412

East MidlandsEast of EnglandLondonNorth EastNorth WestNorthern

IrelandScotlandSouth EastSouth WestWalesWest MidlandsYorkshire &
Humber2004200620082010201202505007501,0001,2501,5001,7502,0002,2502
,5002,7503,000

Nort Sout
East East of Nort Northe Sout West Yorkshi
Yea Lond h Scotla h Wal
Midlan Engla h rn h Midlan re &
r on Wes nd Wes es
ds nd East Ireland East ds Humber
t t

200 2,24 2,21 1,22 1,40 2,08

1,713 1,354 1,457 1,895 2,202 1,661 1,888
4 0 0 0 6 8

200 2,29 2,31 1,33 1,41 1,99

1,740 1,404 1,522 2,091 2,107 1,719 1,806
5 7 8 6 2 9

200 2,34 2,32 1,35 1,48 2,05

1,799 1,451 1,614 2,009 2,147 1,694 1,858
6 5 6 4 6 8
 Nort Sout
East East of Nort Northe Sout West Yorkshi
Yea Lond h Scotla h Wal
Midlan Engla h rn h Midlan re &
r on Wes nd Wes es
ds nd East Ireland East ds Humber
t t

200 2,42 2,36 1,39 1,54 2,08

1,811 1,576 1,670 2,116 2,325 1,754 1,882
7 7 6 7 2 5

200 2,51 2,39 1,44 1,59 2,10

1,818 1,576 1,767 2,063 2,217 1,784 1,893
8 1 9 7 3 6

200 2,58 2,40 1,46 1,61 2,07

1,853 1,629 1,778 2,090 2,252 1,817 1,985
9 1 9 8 2 8

201 2,47 2,37 1,50 1,63 2,07

1,872 1,630 1,821 2,083 2,274 1,806 1,868
0 7 2 9 9 8

201 2,53 2,42 1,54 1,69 2,13

1,900 1,749 1,869 2,079 2,319 1,895 1,840
1 0 7 9 0 9

201 2,60 2,45 1,61 1,74 2,17

2,055 1,763 1,909 2,115 2,369 1,916 2,008
2 0 2 2 8 3
COPD Statistics Across America
COPD affects over 24 million Americans and our community stretches across all 50 states.
2013 marks the first year ever that we are able to see the COPD prevalence rate for all 50
states thanks to the new data put forth by the Centers for Disease Control and
Preventions BEHAVIOR RISK SURVEILLANCE SURVEY (BRFSS), which is the nations
largest telephone health survey. The map below shows the prevalence rate for each state.

In 2012, approximately 3 million people lost their lives to COPD around the
world. That number represents 6% of all deaths globally for that year.

2) COPD is the third leading cause of death in the U.S, beaten only by cancer (2nd leading cause)
and heart disease (leading cause). Globally, it is the 5th leading cause of death.

3) Estimates are that by the year 2030, COPD will rise to the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide
unless urgent action isn't taken to reduce tobacco use.

4) Upwards of 24 million people suffer from some form of COPD currently in America, but only
about half that number have been diagnosed. Many people with breathing problems don't realize
they are the result of COPD.

5) Approximately 65 million people worldwide have moderate to severe COPD, according to the
World Health Organization.

6) More than 90% of COPD-related deaths occur in low and middle-income countries.

7) COPD is more common in American women (6.7%) than men (5.2) today.

8) Female smokers are 13 times more likely to die of COPD than women who have never smoked.

For men, the risk is 12 times that of their non-smoking male counterparts.

9) Women are diagnosed with chronic bronchitis at approximately twice the rate of men. In 2011,
6.8 million women had chronic bronchitis compared to 3.3 million men in the same time period.
10) Emphysema used to primarily affect men, but not any longer. Women outrank men here as well
currently, with 2.6 million cases of emphysema reported in 2011, compared to 2.1 million for men.

11) Emphysema is usually slow to develop. Of the 4.7 million cases ever reported, more than 90%
of them were in people who were 45 years or older.

12) In the United States, one in five hospitalizations of people over the age of 40 is due to COPD.

13) Over 800,000 hospitalizations each year in the U.S. are related to COPD.

14) Both Alabama and Kentucky have COPD prevalence rates that are over 9%.

15) It is estimated that 90% of people with COPD are current or former smokers.

COPD in Women
Deaths resulting from COPD in women are higher than in men. There are a
few reasons why this happens.

1.In the late 1960s, the tobacco industry intensely targeted

women. This resulted in a huge increase in women smoking.
We are still seeing new cases of smoking related diseases,
including COPD, as women age.

2.Women are more vulnerable than men to lung damage from

cigarette smoke and other pollutants. Their lungs are
smaller and estrogen plays a role in worsening lung
disease.

3.Women are often misdiagnosed. Because COPD has long

been thought of as a mans disease, many doctors still do
not expect to see it in women and miss the proper
diagnosis.
COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States. More than 11
million people have been diagnosed with COPD, but millions more may have
the disease without even knowing it. COPD causes serious long-term
disability and early death. At this time there is no cure, and the number of
people dying from COPD is growing.

In a followup to the 2011 United Nations (UN) high level political declaration on non-
communicable diseases (NCDs) [1], the World Health Assembly, in 2012, endorsed a new health
goal (the 25 by 25 goal), which focuses on reduction of premature deaths from COPD and
other NCDs by 25% by the year 2025 [2]. Despite this initiative, experts have reported that
COPD remains a growing [3], but neglected global epidemic [4]. The World Health Organization
(WHO) estimated that there were about 62 million people with moderate to severe COPD in
2002, with the total number of COPD cases predicted to increase to about 200 million in 2010
[5,6]. According to the 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, COPD was responsible for
about 5% of global disabilityadjusted life years DALYs (76.7 million) and 5% of total
deaths (2.9 million) [7,8]. COPD is currently rated the fourth most common specific cause of
death globally and predicted to be the third by 2030, in the absence of interventions that address
the risks especially tobacco smoking, exposures to combustion products of biomass fuels and
environmental pollution [9,10].

The burden of COPD has been reported to be high in some highincome countries (HIC),
particularly due to high prevalence of smoking in these settings [11]. For example, between years
2000 and 2010, about 4%10% of adults were diagnosed with nonreversible and progressive
airway obstruction (a basic feature of COPD) in populationbased surveys across many
European countries, with smoking indicated as a major risk [12]. The WHO has estimated that in
many HIC up to 73% of COPD deaths are related to tobacco smoking [6]. The European Union
(EU) reported that the direct cost from COPD was over 38.6 billion Euros in 2005, representing
about 3% of total health care expenditure [13,14]. In the United States (US), over 2.7 million
adults were estimated to have COPD in 2011, with about 135000 deaths reported [15]. In 2010,
the US government spent nearly US$ 49.9 billion on COPD, including 29.5 billion spent on
direct health care, 8.0 billion on indirect morbidity and 12.4 billion on indirect mortality costs,
respectively [15].

Meanwhile, it has been estimated that despite a high prevalence of COPD in some HIC, 90% of
COPD deaths still occur in low and middleincome countries (LMIC)in the future