O-27 The Prevalence of Chronic Airflow Obstruction in a Jamaican Cohort >.40 years - Results of the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD JA) Study.

Methods: As part of the international Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study, an island wide multistage sampling was performed and 84 Primary Sampling Units were selected. All members of the household aged 40 and over were deemed eligible and had questionnaires administered and spirometry performed.. Spirometry measured Forced Expiratory Volume in 1second (FEV1.0) and Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS) standards. The predicted values for FEV 1.0 and FVC were obtained using NHANES 3 reference equation and from local equations. COPD was diagnosed using Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD ) criteria. Ethics approval was obtained from the Mona Research Ethics Committee

Results: Of the 907 eligible participants, 795 participants completed the Questionnaires and did post bronchodilator spirometry yielding a response rate of 89%. Of the 795 responders, 578 (72.7%) had acceptable post bronchodilator spirometry of which the majority were females (58%). The population estimate for Stage 1 COPD was 12.1 % and Stage 2 COPD was 9.6% using NHANES equation with males having higher prevalence than females. The prevalence of current smoking was consistently higher in males compared with females and the largest difference was in the 60–69 age group. Estimates of COPD prevalence were greater using the NHANES 3 equation compared to the local equation (95.5%)

Conclusion: COPD and tobacco use are public health burdens in Jamaica and deserve calibrated health policy initiatives.