Importance of the Early Detection of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) by Health Examination

• Published in: Official Journal of the Japanese Society of Human Dry Dock Vol. 18; no. 1; pp. 25 - 28
• Main Authors: Watanabe, Yoshiyuki, Shigeta, Masako, Nakazawa, Atsuko, Nakayama, Masahiko, Ozasa, Kotaro, Yoshikawa, Toshikazu
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: JAPAN SOCIETY OF NINGEN DOCK 30.06.2003; 公益社団法人 日本人間ドック学会
• Subjects: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Heath examination; incidence; smoking; 人間ドック; 喫煙; 慢性閉塞性肺疾患; 有病率
• ISSN: 0914-0328; 2186-5019
• DOI: 10.11320/ningendock1986.18.25

The incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been rapidly increasing throughout the world. In Japan, COPD is ranking the tenth cause of death. We examined the incidence of COPD in 4,132 middle-aged males who underwent heath examination between April 2000 and March 2001 in our hospital. The percentade of the subjects showing a one-second rate of forced expiratory volume below 70% while smoking was 14%, in whom the percentage of the subjects with severe COPD was 6 %. Since COPD has not been regarded as a target disease in health examination, COPD may have been aggravated in many patients without being recognized.