Purpose: The Continuing to Confront COPD International Patient Survey aimed to estimate the prevalence and burden of COPD globally and to update findings from the Confronting COPD International Survey conducted in 1999–2000. Materials and methods: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in 12 countries worldwide were identified through systematic screening of population samples. Telephone and face-to-face interviews were conducted between November 2012 and May 2013 using a structured survey that incorporated validated patient-reported outcome instruments. Eligible patients were adults aged 40 years and older who were taking regular respiratory medications or suffered with chronic respiratory symptoms and reported either 1) a physician diagnosis of COPD/emphysema, 2) a physician diagnosis of chronic bronchitis, or 3) a symptom-based definition of chronic bronchitis. The burden of COPD was measured with the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the modified Medical Research Council (mMRC) Dyspnea Scale. Results: Of 106,876 households with at least one person aged ≥40 years, 4,343 respondents fulfilled the case definition of COPD and completed the full survey. COPD prevalence ranged from 7% to 12%, with most countries falling within the range of 7%–9%. In all countries, prevalence increased with age, and in all countries except the US was greater among men (range 6%–14%) than among women (range 5%–11%). A significant disease burden was observed when considering COPD symptoms or health status, and showed wide variations across countries. Prevalence of moderate-to-severe dyspnea (mMRC scale ≥2) ranged from 27% to 61%, and mean CAT score ranged from 16.0 to 24.8, indicating medium-to-high impairment. Conclusion: This survey, representing 12 countries, showed similar rates of estimated COPD prevalence across countries that were higher than those reported a decade ago in the original Confronting COPD International Survey. A significant burden of COPD was demonstrated by symptoms and health care-resource use, similar to that reported in the original survey.

Currently, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a global health issue and one of the leading causes of death in the world. COPD therapy includes pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches that can significantly improve clinical symptoms and reduce frequency of exacerbations of the disease.Methodology. The target audience of these clinical recommendations are therapists, general practitioners, and pulmonologists. Each thesis-recommendation about diagnostic and therapeutic procedures was graded according to the scales of classes of recommendations from 1 to 5 and the A, B, C scale of the levels of evidence. The clinical recommendations also contain comments and explanations to the theses together with algorithms for the diagnosis and treatment of COPD.Conclusion. The presented clinical guidelines cover the latest information about the etiology and pathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These guidelines were approved by the Scientific and Practical Council of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation in 2021.

We must work together to prevent the development of COPD by reducing exposure to risk factors, to ensure the diagnosis is made as early as possible and to ensure all patients around the world receive effective therapyhttp://bit.ly/2WDUPMp

Spirometry is the most common method to assess respiratory function. It is widely used to obtain objective information for the diagnosis of respiratory diseases and monitoring the functional state of the respiratory system. In 2014, the Russian Respiratory Society approved the technical standards for performing spirometry. Improvements in measuring devices have necessitated updating technical standards and standardizing the result interpretation algorithm.Methods. This document on spirometry was prepared by a joint group of experts from the Russian Respiratory Society and the Russian Association of Specialists in Functional Diagnostics, who have experience in performing spirometry in accordance with quality criteria, analyzing the results of the study, and developing national standards.Results. The 2014 Spirometry Technical Standards were revised, including the addition of quality criteria for measurements and test quality assessment. Where necessary, evidence was provided to support the change. The experience and knowledge of the expert group members were used to develop these recommendations.Conclusion. Standards for spirometry and bronchodilator test and the result interpretation algorithm are presented to improve the measurement quality and consistency of data interpretation.

Treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the most important tasks of clinical medicine due to high prevalence of and high mortality from COPD. Treatment of COPD as a heterogeneous disease requires different approaches depending on the severity and the clinical course of COPD. Clinical guidelines have become the principal document that regulates different aspects of management of COPD patients. Algorithms of management and clinical decision making are the crucial part of guidelines because they help achieving a balance between making the decision in different clinical situations and simple graphics. The simplified approach is important for implementation the algorithm into clinical practice. Different evidence-based therapeutic schemes proposed by experts of Russian Respiratory Society and other countries have been enclosed into this article with discussion about their strengths and limitations and possibility of practical use. The Russian algorithm reflects a current view on differentiated management of COPD patients and fits the requirements of Healthcare Ministry of Russian Federation and needs of achieving the optimal balance between high informative significance and a simple graphics of the scheme.