The effects of socioeconomic status on health outcomes in patients with COPD

AIMS: Socioeconomic status is considered to be an independent risk factor in COPD and affect the health outcomes; however little research has been done in Turkey to study this association. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effets of socioeconomic status defined as both monthly family income and formal education level, on health outcomes in COPD. METHODS: This prospective study included 248 patients with COPD (mean age 61.3±8.8yrs, 88 % of them male)attending the outpatient clinic of our department. A detailed questionnaire was performed and the patients were classified according to their monthly family income as low( 333 US$). According to formal education level, they classified as low(no formal education), middle(1-8 years) and high(>8 years). RESULTS: We found that patients in low income group have lower lung function(FEVi), higher disease severity and use teophylline and LAMA more frequently(p CONCLUSION: This study showed that socioeconomic status affects the lung function, dsypnea severity, disease severity, physical activity level and drugs used in patients with COPD.