Prevalence and Risk Factors of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease among Nonsmokers: Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010–2012)

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of COPD among non-smoking adults, and to investigate the risk factors that affect disease occurrence. METHODS: The data from the 5th Korea national health and nutrition examination survey (KNHNES) has been used, and 5,489 non-smoking adults aged between 40 to 79 years with diagnosable FEV1/FVC were selected therefrom as the subjects of this study. RESULTS: The prevalence of COPD in non-smokers was observed to be 6.9%. The development of the COPD showed statistically significant difference among groups; males showed about 2.54 times (95% CI: 1.410∼146.612) higher rates compared to females, subjects aged 70–79 showed about 3.08 times (95% CI: 1.823∼11.437) higher rates compared to those aged 40–49, subjects whose education level was elementary school or less showed about 5.36 times (95% CI: 1.341∼21.393) higher rates compared to those who are college or more, and subjects who are middle school showed about 4.72 times (95% CI: 1.374∼16.217) higher rates compared to the college or more. CONCLUSION: It is confirmed that development of the COPD in non-smokers reach significance. For the prevention of the disease, there is a need to identify COPD-related risk factors in males and the elderly and provide appropriate nursing intervention, and to develop health-related education programs for those with low educational background to take in order to promote the improvement of lung health.