ABSTRACT
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a leading cause of death in Ireland. It affects over 440,000 people 10%of Ireland's population), but awareness of COPD is low. COPD Support Ireland is a national charity established to advocate for and support those with COPD. For World COPD Day 2013, a mobile clinic visited 5 locations to provide information about COPD and free spirometry testing. In this study, we evaluated participants' level of knowledge about COPD and whether this was correlated with a number of variables. Participants completed a questionnaire (352). Questionnaires were analysed to ascertain this self-presenting population's characteristics. Most (247, 70.2%) were smokers/ex-smokers, yet only 168 (47.7%) knew of COPD. Almost 18% (63, 17.9%) required referral to GPs with abnormal spirometry results. Our findings suggest the need for greater COPD education and awareness to increase earlier diagnosis, reduce health care costs and improve quality of life.