Influence of Geographic Disparity on Lung Function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients from Two Cities of Northern India

Abstract

Objectives: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease associated with a notable amount of morbidity and mortality and characterized by progressive airflow obstruction. A decline in lung function, which is a hallmark of COPD, can be measured using spirometry. Yet with conflicting results, a link is found between geographical altitude and prevalence of COPD. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to assess the effect of altitude on the performance of lung function in COPD patients of hilly and plain regions. Methodology: The study was conducted in two different regions of northern India, viz a viz. hilly region of Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) and plain region of Patiala (Punjab). A total of 100 patients diagnosed with COPD (age between 40 and 70 years), 50 each from hilly and plain area were assessed to find out the desired result of pulmonary function test with spirometer. Results: Independent t-test for statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the significance of difference between means of two quantitative variables and the level of significance was set as α = 0.05. Interestingly, it has been found that there is negligible influence (p>0.05) of geographical terrain on pulmonary function in COPD in patients of hilly and plain regions. Conclusion: From the results, it can be concluded that there is little or no variation in the Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) values amongst COPD patients residing in high altitude and low altitude.

Keywords: COPD, FEV1, Hill, lung function, plain, spirometry

Cite this Article

Ankush Sharma, Ashish Tehraik, Saurabh Kumar, Shveta Sharma. Influence of Geographic Disparity on Lung Function in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients from Two Cities of Northern India. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Health Professions. 2020; 10(1): 29–36p.