Female-specific risk factors associated with risk of ACO (asthma COPD overlap) in aboriginal people.

Objective: Sex differences in incidence, susceptibility and severity of many chronic respiratory diseases have been long recognized. Asthma-COPD Overlap (ACO) is newly recognized disease with its management guidelines reported in 2015. The objective of this analysis is to identify the female-specific risk factors associated with ACO in Aboriginal people.Methods: The Aboriginal Peoples Survey 2012 (N = 28,410) is the fourth cycle of a national cross-sectional survey representative of the First Nations living off reserve, Metis and Inuit. The 2012 APS collected information on employment, education, health status, housing, family background and income. Survey Logistic Regression was used to identify the significant risk factors for ACO in the multivariate analysis.Results: The prevalence of ACO was 1.65% and 3.53% in males and females, respectively. The following factors were significantly associated with increased risk of ACO in both males and females: increased age, living in Quebec, living in a rented dwelling and dwelling in need of major repairs. However, four factors including marital status (being widowed, separated, or divorced), smoking status (being a current daily smoker), having a diagnosis of diabetes and working 40 h and over a week were significantly associated with increased risk of ACO in females not males.Conclusion:The results of our study may offer useful evidence for future development of female-specific prevention and public health intervention programs in aboriginal communities to reduce the burden of ACO.

Prevalence and Risk Factors of ACO (Asthma-COPD Overlap) in Aboriginal People.

Background and Objective: Aboriginal peoples are at a higher risk of many chronic respiratory diseases compared to the general Canadian population. Patients with asthma-COPD overlap (ACO), a disease newly described in 2015, are associated with frequent exacerbations, rapid decline in lung function, poor quality of life, high mortality, and disproportionate utilization of health-care resources than patients with asthma and COPD alone. The objective was to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of ACO in Aboriginal peoples. Methods: Data from the 2012 Aboriginal Peoples Survey (APS) were used for this study. The ACO definition was based on the respondent giving positive responses to both of the following questions "Do you/Does (name) have Asthma diagnosed by a health professional?" and "Do you/Does (name) have chronic bronchitis, emphysema or chronic pulmonary obstructive disease or COPD diagnosed by a health professional?" Results. Aboriginal peoples older than 45 years, women, widowed, separated, or divorced, having a total personal income below $20,000 were associated with a significant risk of ACO. Residing in Ontario, being a daily smoker, living in a rented dwelling, dwelling in need of major repairs, having diabetes, and working more than 40 hrs a week were also significantly associated with increased risk of ACO. Conclusion: The results from this study will provide information to aid the development of prevention and intervention strategies for Aboriginal communities.