Understanding Practice Patterns of COPD: A Survey of Physicians in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia

INTRODUCTION: There is much recent data from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that can help us understand the practice patterns of physicians regarding the diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in these countries. We conducted this survey to understand the practice patterns of physicians related to the diagnosis and management of COPD in these three countries.

METHODS: This questionnaire-based, observational, multicentre, cross-sectional survey was carried out with 438 randomly selected physicians consulting COPD patients.

RESULTS: In the survey, 73.29% of the physicians consulted at least five COPD patients daily (all patients > 40 years of age). 31.14% of the COPD patients visiting their doctors were women. Among physicians, 95.12% reported that at least 70% of their patients were smokers. 34.18% of the physicians did not routinely use spirometry to diagnose COPD. Most physicians preferred a short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) (28.19%) in the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Group-A and long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist plus long-acting β2-agonist/inhaled corticosteroids (LAMA + LABA/ICS) in both the GOLD Group-C (39.86%) and Group-D (72.89%) patients. A significant number (40.67%) of physicians preferred LABA/LAMA for their GOLD Group-B patients. A pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI) with or without spacer was the most preferred device. Only 23.67% of the physicians believed that at least 70% of their patients had good adherence (> 80%) to therapy. Up to 54.42% of the physicians prescribed inhalation therapy to every COPD patient. Also, 39.95% of the physicians evaluated their patients' inhalation technique on every visit. Up to 52.67% of the physicians advised home nebulisation to > 10% of patients, with nebulised SABA/short-acting muscarinic receptor antagonist (SAMA) being the most preferred management choice. Most physicians offered smoking cessation advice (94.16%) and/or vaccinations (74.30%) as non-pharmacological management, whereas pulmonary rehabilitation was offered by a smaller number of physicians. Cost of therapy and poor technique were the most common reasons for non-adherence to COPD management therapy.

CONCLUSION: Awareness of spirometry can be increased to improve the diagnosis of COPD. Though physicians are following the GOLD strategy recommendations for the pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of COPD, awareness of spirometry could be increased to improve proper diagnosis. Regular device demonstration during each visit can improve the inhalation technique and can possibly increase adherence to treatment.