Prevalence and Associated Factors of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among Adults in Neno District, Malawi: A Cross-Sectional Analytical Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic, Behavioural, and Clinical Characteristics of the Study Participants

Characteristic	Females, n = 296^a	Males, n = 214^a	Overall, N = 510^a	p-value^b
Age				>0.9
40–49	182 (61.5%)	135 (63.1%)	317 (62.2%)
50–59	52 (17.6%)	37 (17.3%)	89 (17.5%)
≥60	62 (20.9%)	42 (19.6%)	104 (20.4%)
Body mass index (kg/m^2)				<0.001
< 18.5	6 (2.0%)	10 (4.7%)	16 (3.1%)
18.5–24.9	110 (37.2%)	140 (65.4%)	250 (49.0%)
≥ 25	180 (60.8%)	64 (29.9%)	244 (47.8%)
Occupation				<0.001
Business	25 (8.4%)	30 (14.0%)	55 (10.8%)
Employed	26 (8.8%)	44 (20.6%)	70 (13.7%)
Farmer	144 (48.6%)	83 (38.8%)	227 (44.5%)
Not employed	101 (34.1%)	57 (26.6%)	158 (31.0%)
Smoking status				<0.001
Never smoker	263 (88.9%)	148 (69.2%)	411 (80.6%)
Former smoker	9 (3.0%)	13 (6.1%)	22 (4.3%)
Current smoker	24 (8.1%)	53 (24.8%)	77 (15.1%)
Years smoked for both current and former smokers (median, IQR)	24 (15–37)	24 (15–34)	24 (15–35)	0.8
Total cigarette per day for both current and former smokers (median, IQR)	2 (2–3)	4 (3–5)	3 (2–5)	<0.001
Current consumer of alcohol				<0.001
Yes	59 (19.9%)	83 (38.8%)	142 (27.8%)
Biomass fuel exposure				0.14
Yes	294 (99.3%)	212 (99%)	506 (99.2%)
Fuel used				0.14
Dried wood	165 (55.7%)	137 (64.0%)	302 (59.2%)
Charcoal	116 (39.2%)	64 (29.9%)	180 (35.3%)
Crop residue/plant products	13 (4.4%)	11 (5.1%)	24 (4.7%)
Electricity	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.9%)	4 (0.8%)
Cooking area				0.6
Outside on Open Air	74 (25.0%)	46 (21.5%)	120 (23.5%)
On Veranda	13 (4.4%)	12 (5.6%)	25 (4.9%)
In the main house, in a separate room (used as a kitchen)	42 (14.2%)	24 (11.2%)	66 (12.9%)
In the main house in the room used for living/sleeping	5 (1.7%)	4 (1.9%)	9 (1.8%)
Outside of the main house, in a separate building	162 (54.7%)	128 (59.8%)	290 (56.9%)
House ventilation status				0.7
Not ventilated	160 (54.1%)	119 (55.6%)	279 (54.7%)
Ventilated	136 (45.9%)	95 (44.4%)	231 (45.3%)
Cough				>0.9
Yes	144 (48.6%)	105 (49.1%)	249 (48.8%)
Phlegm				0.3
Yes	46 (15.5%)	41 (19.2%)	87 (17.1%)
Wheezing				0.010
Yes	17 (5.7%)	26 (12.1%)	43 (8.4%)
Asthma				0.8
Yes	11 (3.7%)	9 (4.2%)	20 (3.9%)
Previous TB				0.6
Yes	11 (3.7%)	10 (4.7%)	21 (4.1%)

Notes: *P-values in bold are statistically significant. ^an (%). ^bPearson’s Chi-squared test; Fisher’s exact test.

Table 2 COPD Severity and MRC Dyspnoea Score

Characteristic	Female n = 19^a	Male n = 32^a	Overall N = 51^a	p-value^b
COPD Severity				0.055
Mild (FEV1 ≥80% predicted)	6 (31.6%)	19 (59.4%)	25 (49.0%)
Moderate (FEV1 50–79%)	13 (68.4%)	13 (40.6%)	26 (51.0%)
Severe (FEV1 30–49%)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
MRC_dyspnoea_score
0	16 (84.2%)	21 (65.6%)	37 (72.5%)
1	3 (15.8%)	6 (18.8%)	9 (17.6%)
2	0 (0.0%)	4 (12.5%)	4 (7.8%)
3	0 (0.0%)	1 (3.1%)	1 (2.0%)
4	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)
5	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)

Notes: ^an (%). ^bPearson’s Chi-squared test.

Figure 1 Respiratory symptoms distribution by sex.

Figure 2 Prevalence of respiratory symptoms in participants with and without COPD.

Table 3 Factors Associated with COPD

Variable	Bivariate logistic regression			Multivariate Logistic Regression
	OR	95% CI	p-value	aOR	95% CI	p-value
BMI
<18.5	Reference
18.5–24.9	0.61	0.18–2.78	0.5
≥25	0.32	0.09–1.51	0.10
Cooking area
Outside	Reference
Same building	1.45	0.51–3.86	0.5
Separate building	1.51	0.76–3.22	0.3
House ventilation status
Not ventilated	Reference
Ventilated	0.91	0.50–1.62	0.7
Years Smoked	1.02	0.99–1.05	0.2
Asthma
No	Reference
Yes	0.46	0.03–2.31	0.5
Gender
Female	Reference
Male	2.56	1.42–4.74	0.002	1.37	0.67–2.80	0.4
Age (in years)
40–49	Reference
50–59	1.51	0.64–3.31	0.300	1.80	0.69–4.47	0.2
60 and above	3.19	1.65–6.14	<0.001	3.27	1.48–7.34	0.004
Smoking status
Never smoked	Reference
Ever smoked	10.6	3.41–30.5	<0.001	6.17	1.89–18.7	0.002
Current Smoker	19.1	9.66–39.6	<0.001	17.6	8.47–38.4	<0.001
Previous TB
No	Reference
Yes	3.95	1.35–10.2	0.007	4.42	1.16–15.5	0.023

Note: *P-values in bold are statistically significant.