COPD prevalence in Australia vs South Korea †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the COPD prevalence in Australia vs South Korea. Answer: Incidence and prevalence of COPD in Australia: COPD can be defined as the obstructive lung disease that restricts the smooth air passage across the bronchial tubes and leads to severe episodes of shortness of breath or dyspnea in the patient and can pave way for many related health disorders for the patient. It has to be mentioned that the COPD is a disease trajectory that involves chronic manifestation of both bronchitis and emphysema, and this complex procedure usually takes a considerably long time to manifest; and hence this disease is generally observed in the older population. COPD has been discovered as the one of the greatest public health priority for a vast majority of both developing and developed nation, and for Australia, the statistical figures are nothing short of alarming (Burney et al. 2015). According to the report of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2018), the number of deaths in the last couple of years has been 7100 due to COPD, which led to COPD being the fifth leading cause of death in all of Australia. However, in order to understand the predominance of the diseases in the particular national context, it is very important to distinguish the incidence rate of the disease and wit the prevalence of the same in the nation. The incidence if a particular disease reflects the statistical figure of the increase in the number of COPD acquired by patients who have had no past history of COPD, acquiring it in a given period of time. It has to be understood that incidence rate often indicates at the number of new cases reported in a given period of time pertaining to a disease which in turn indicates at the vulnerability of a population to the risk of contracting a particular disease. On the other hand the prevalence is the existent COPD patients alive and strugglin g with the disease, a cumulative figure of total number of COPD cases present in the nation, indicating directly at how widespread the disease is in the nation and how severe is its impact on the overall health outcome of the population. Mortality rate due to COPD in Australia (Lungfoundation.com.au. 2018) In case of Australia, the incidence rate of COPD is 13.7 % in case of Australians aged 40 years or above and the rate is almost doubled at 30% in case of Australians aged 75 years or above on a per annum basis. The prevalence of COPD is case of Australia is alarming. Acording to a recent survey report, approximately million individuals have been reported to be suffering with some form of COPD as of last year. Hence, it can be stated that one in seven Australians have been reported to be suffering from COPD. On a more elaborative note, close to 750000 Australians have been reported to have severe forms of COPD including cases of exacerbation. Whereas, 70000 individuals have been reported to be having mild forms of COPD, which has the risk of developing further exacerbations in the future (Kelly et al. 2018). Reason behind COPD being a issue in Australia: It has to be understood that COPD has been accounted for 355328 hospital bed days and 15% of all preventable episodes of hospitalizations in the Australia in the past couple of years. Now there are various reason that contribute to the high prevalence of COPD in the Australian demographic and high rates of smoking is the most important contributor. It has to be mentioned in this context, that close to 20% of the total Australian population over the age of 15 are active smokers which increases the vulnerability and risk of acquainting COPD exceedingly high in Australia. That is the reason why Australia contributes to one of the highest rates of COPD deaths in the developed world (Lungfoundation.com.au. 2018). Incidence and prevalence of COPD in South Korea: In case of South Korea, similarly, COPD is the fifth leading cause of death and the incidence rate of the diseases in this demographic is 14.1% for individuals over the age of 40. The incidence rate varies considerably among the men and women, with the incidence rate for men being 19.4% whereas for the women it less than half at 7.4% in the last couple of years. The prevalence of COPD in the country has been 36.2%. According to the recent survey report that the South Korea has experienced a steady decline in the rate of COPD in the past couple of years, yet according to the report of KNHNES, that 28.1% mortality rate in the South korea is due to COPD. Along with that, 533 people among every 100000 people lose their healthy lives due to COPD and its exacerbations (Oh and Lee 2016). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in South Korea (Global-disease-burden.healthgrove.com. 2018) Rationale for difference between both countries in COPD statistics: It has to be mentioned that the incidence rate of COPD is more or less similar in South Korea and Australia, however the prevalence or persistence is greater in South Korea; there are many social determinants involved with the differential or contradictory patterns of COPD incidence and prevalence in both the countries. Comparing the data of smoker COPD patients, it has to be mentioned that smoking plays a huge role in the provoking the disease in bth the countries however in case of South Korea, the rate of non-smoker COPD patients are also significantly high (Angarita et al. 2017). Here, a few other contributing factors can be mentioned, such as the low health literacy and knowledge among the South Korean population regarding the COPD, low income and financial constraint and decreased living condition of the low income families also contributes crucially to the persistence of the disease in the country. Along with that it has to be mentioned that close to 36.2% of the entire male p opulation of South Korea have heavy smoking habits which is highest among all OECDnations (Yoo et al. 2017). Now the impact of smoking on the occurrence and exacerbation of COPD is extreme, hence it can be one important factor leading to the high prevalence and persistence of this disease in South Korea. Another two important factors can be the fact that a vast majority of South Korean females have been exposed to bio-fuels in the past which can have increased the vulnerability, and the compromised living standards due to low income leads to many co-morbid diseases across many regions of South Korea such as tuberculosis, which is a key facilitator of COPD exacerbations. The percentage non-smoker COPD patients in South Korea are 7.1 to 8.2 %, which is much higher than in Australia. Hence, these are a few contributing socio-economic determinants of health that can be pegged as the underlying reasons behind the high prevalence of COPD among both smoking and non-smoking COPD patients in South Korea when compared to that of Australia (Min et al. 2016). References: Angarita, E.S., de Oca, M.M., Zabert, I., Wehrmeister, F. and Menezes, A., 2017. COPD incidence in subjects with risk factors, chronic respiratory symptoms and normal spirometry: The PLATINO study. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018).COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). [online] Available at: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/asthma-other-chronic-respiratory-conditions/copd-chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease/contents/how-many-die-from-copd [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018]. Burney, P.G., Patel, J., Newson, R., Minelli, C. and Naghavi, M., 2015. Global and regional trends in COPD mortality, 19902010.European Respiratory Journal,45(5), pp.1239-1247. Global-disease-burden.healthgrove.com. (2018).Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in South Korea. [online] Available at: https://global-disease-burden.healthgrove.com/l/46236/Chronic-Obstructive-Pulmonary-Disease-in-South-Korea [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018]. Kelly, A.M., Holdgate, A., Keijzers, G., Klim, S., Graham, C.A., Craig, S., Kuan, W.S., Jones, P., Lawoko, C. and Laribi, S., 2018. Epidemiology, treatment, disposition and outcome of patients with acute exacerbation of COPD presenting to emergency departments in Australia and South East Asia: An AANZDEM study.Respirology. Lungfoundation.com.au. (2018).COPD: The statistics | Lung Foundation Australia. [online] Available at: https://lungfoundation.com.au/health-professionals/clinical-resources/copd/copd-the-statistics/ [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018]. Min, K., Chung, S., Oh, J., Sim, J., Hur, G., Lee, S., Kang, K., Shim, J. and Choi, J., 2016. Prevalence Of Bacterial And Viral Infections In Acute Exacerbation Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In Single Center In South Korea.Am J Respir Crit Care Med,193, p.A5178. Oh, H. and Lee, Y.E., 2016. Prevalence and Risk Factors of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease among Nonsmokers: Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (20102012).Osong public health and research perspectives,7(6), pp.385-393. Rhee, C.K., 2016. High prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korea.The Korean journal of internal medicine,31(4), pp.651-652. Yoo, K.H., Park, Y.B., Shah-Manek, B., Gefen, E., Song, H.Y. and Benhaddi, H., 2017. P-61 The burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma in South Korea-a targeted literature review and evidence synthesis. ,124, pp.190-190.