Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) persists as a major global public health issue demanding urgent attention from policymakers. Despite being preventable and treatable, COPD is the third leading cause of death globally* accounting for 3.3 million deaths worldwide. Aquarius Population Health conducted a qualitative research study with 17 clinical experts involved in COPD management from six diverse healthcare settings to understand how different or similar the barriers to COPD care across these countries. We studied six countries: Australia, Spain, and Taiwan as high-income countries (HICs), and Argentina, Mexico, and Russia as upper-middle-income countries (UMICs).
As part of this project, Aquarius did a thorough mapping to generate a strong visual presentation of how COPD care is delivered in practice through Evidenced Care Pathways (ECP). The ECPs were created and validated by working collaboratively with the clinical experts involved in the qualitative study.
When analysing the barriers to optimal COPD care, it was noticed they are the same for the majority of HICs and UMICs. While country-specific nuances exist, common challenges include fragmented healthcare systems, guideline adherence, and COPD exacerbation management.
This is the first study to compare barriers across countries, providing useful insight that most issues in COPD are the same between HICs and UMICs, regardless of a country’s economic development indicators. It suggests that international policies could be developed to address these common barriers.
Moreover, funded country-specific respiratory strategies to manage COPD adequately are needed to ensure COPD gets the same resources as other important noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). By tackling the issues listed in this publication, healthcare systems can improve COPD management, ultimately reducing the disease burden on patients and healthcare providers.
The paper reporting this work is published in The Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. The full text can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S449659.
*Note: COPD is the 4th leading cause of mortality worldwide if deaths from COVID-19 during the pandemic years are taken into account.
Citation: Shahaj O, Meiwald A, Puri Sudhir K, Gara-Adams R, Wark P, Cazaux A, Rios AE, Avdeev SN, Adams EJ. Mapping the Common Barriers to Optimal COPD Care in High and Middle-Income Countries: Qualitative Perspectives from Clinicians. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2024 May 30;19:1207-1223. Doi: 10.2147/COPD.S449659. PMID: 38831892; PMCID: PMC11146611.
© Aquarius Population Health 2024. For commercial use or distribution, please contact info@aquariusph.com.