Primary care physician perceptions on the diagnosis and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in diverse regions of the world

Zaurbek Aisanov1,*, Chunxue Bai2,*, Otto Bauerle3,*, Federico D Colodenco4,*, Charles Feldman5,6,*, Shu Hashimoto7,*, Jose Jardim8,*, Christopher KW Lai9,*, Rafael Laniado-Laborin10,*, Gilbert Nadeau11,*, Abdullah Sayiner12,*, Jae Jeong Shim13,*, Ying Huang Tsai14,*, Richard D Walters11,*, Grant Waterer15,* 1Pulmonology Research Institute, Moscow, Russia; 2Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 3Centro Médico de las Américas, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico; 4Hospital de Rehabilitación Respiratoria "María Ferrer," Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa; 6Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; 7Division of Respiratory Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; 8Federal University of S o Paulo, S o Paulo, Brazil; 9Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China; 10Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico; 11Medical Affairs, GlaxoSmithKline, Brentford, UK; 12Department of Chest Diseases, Ege University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey; 13Department of Pulmonology, Guro Hospital, Korea University Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea; 14Department of Respiratory Care Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chia-Yi, Taiwan; 15School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia*ICON group (International COPD Network), listed in alphabetical order: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a multicomponent disorder that leads to substantial disability, impaired quality of life, and increased mortality. Although the majority of COPD patients are first diagnosed and treated in primary care practices, there is comparatively little information on the management of COPD patients in primary care. A web-based pilot survey was conducted to evaluate the primary care physician's, or general practitioner's (GP's), knowledge, understanding, and management of COPD in twelve territories across the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, eastern Europe, and Latin America, using a 10-minute questionnaire comprising 20 questions and translated into the native language of each participating territory. The questionnaire was administered to a total of 600 GPs (50 from each territory) involved in the management of COPD patients and all data were collated and analyzed by an independent health c