Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is markedly under-diagnosed, which may relate to under-reporting of symptoms and poor awareness of the disease.
Methods: A survey was conducted in a sample of the French general population aged 40-75 years (n=2758) to assess respiratory symptoms and level of knowledge of the disease in subjects with or at-risk of COPD (n=860, 31%).
Results: The high frequency of dyspnoea (MRC dyspnoea grade > or =1: 40%) contrasted with that of subjects spontaneously reporting respiratory problems (9%). Among these, 72% reported limitations in daily-life activities but only 14% considered that they were severely affected by their respiratory status. A very low proportion of subjects knew the term COPD (8%) and only 66% of these associated COPD with a respiratory disease.
Conclusions: There is a wide gap between the high number of subjects at risk of COPD in the general population and the frequency of breathlessness in these subjects on one hand, and the poor knowledge of the disease, poor perception of symptoms, and under-diagnosis and under-use of spirometry on the other. Increasing awareness of COPD in the population is needed.