Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an umbrella term used to describe the airflow obstruction that is associated mainly with emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Prevalence

COPD affects tens of millions of Americans.

• It has been estimated that six and a half million patients have been diagnosed with some form of COPD and over 15 million more have been left undiagnosed.¹

• Government data based on a 1998 prevalence survey suggest that three million Americans have been diagnosed with emphysema and nine million have been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis.²

• Emphysema has affected more men than women, while chronic bronchitis has affected more women than men.³

Mortality and Morbidity

• COPD is the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States.² Nearly 112,584 Americans died of COPD in 1998.²

• COPD accounted for:

• 13.2 million office visits to physicians in 1997⁴
• 668,362 hospitalizations for which COPD was the first-listed discharge diagnosis in 1998⁵

Impact of COPD

• COPD costs the US economy an estimated $31.9 billion a year.⁶

Geographical Data

• In 1995-1997, COPD mortality tended to be highest in the western mountain states.

• States that experienced the highest death rates for COPD (between 46 and 61 COPD deaths per 100,000 people), based on 1997 data:

• Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyoming⁷

• States that experienced high death rates for COPD (between 41 and 45 COPD deaths per 100,000 people), based on 1997 data:

• Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington⁷

Sources