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Review
. 2017 Oct 9:12:2869-2890.
doi: 10.2147/COPD.S136245. eCollection 2017.

Joint statement for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Middle East-North Africa region, 2017

Bassam H Mahboub  1   2 , Mayank Gian Vats  2 , Ashraf Al Zaabi  3 , Mohammed Nizam Iqbal  2 , Tarek Safwat  4 , Fatma Al-Hurish  5 , Marc Miravitlles  6 , Dave Singh  7 , Khaled Asad  8 , Salah Zeineldine  9   10 , Mohamed S Al-Hajjaj  1
Affiliations
Review

Joint statement for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Middle East-North Africa region, 2017

Bassam H Mahboub et al. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Smoking and subsequent development of COPD is an ever-increasing epidemic in Arabian Gulf and Middle East countries, with no signs of decline. The important fact to be highlighted is that this COPD epidemic of increasing incidence and prevalence is mostly unrecognized by patients, due to the common attribution of symptoms to "smoker's cough", and the underdiagnosis and undertreatment by physicians because the common signs and symptoms masquerade as asthma. Consequently, there are long-term adverse effects of missing the diagnosis. The purpose of this review article is to focus upon the status of COPD in Arabian Gulf and Middle East countries, stressing the increasing burden of smoking and COPD, to emphasize the specific factors leading to rise in prevalence of COPD, to bring to light the underdiagnosis and undermanagement of COPD, and to treat COPD in conformity with standard guidelines with local and regional modifications. This review ends with suggestions and recommendations to the health department to formulate policies and to generate awareness among the general public about the side effects of smoking and consequences of COPD.

Keywords: COPD; Gulf Cooperation Council countries; Middle East; bakhour; medwakh; prevalence of smoking; shisha; water pipe.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Spirometry showing normal (A) and obstructive (B) patterns.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Refined ABCD assessment tool (simpler version). Abbreviations: mMRC, modified Medical Research Council (dyspnea scale); CAT, COPD-assessment test.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Initial pharmacological treatment for new patient. Notes: Patients with few symptoms (CAT <10 or mMRC 0–1) may be managed with a short-acting bronchodilator. Patients with high symptom burden may be initially treated with LAMA/LABA. Patients with fewer symptoms (CAT <10 or mMRC 0–1) may initially be treated with LAMA. 3ICS–LABA combination would be preferred in ACOS patients. Abbreviations: mMRC, modified Medical Research Council (dyspnea scale); CAT, COPD-assessment test; LAMA, long-acting muscarinic antagonist; LABA, long-acting β2-agonist; ICS, inhaled corticosteroid; ACOS, asthma–COPD overlap syndrome.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Follow-up treatment of COPD patients. Abbreviations: LAMA, long-acting muscarinic antagonist; LABA, long-acting β2-agonist; ICS, inhaled corticosteroid.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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MeSH terms