Background: The prevalence of COPD in the Philippines has been reported in several epidemiologic studies. However, there are still no data on the characteristics of these patients based on GOLD guideline, which could provide understanding to the burden of COPD. 

Aim: This nationwide study was performed to describe the characteristics, distribution of COPD patients and treatment patterns according to the GOLD guideline.  

Methods: This was a multi-center, cross-sectional study using the Philippine COPD Profile and Survival Study: A Multicenter prospective cohort, observational study (CPASS) database from 40 hospitals with spirometry confirmed COPD.  Patients were classified according to GOLD guideline and profiled based on ABCD category, demographics, clinical phenotypes and treatment pattern.

Results: A total of 1,982 COPD patients were included. Majority of patients (76.5%) had moderate to severe airflow obstruction. 45% have previous diagnosis of PTB, while 35% had concomitant diagnosis of asthma.  The percentages of patients in GOLD groups A, B, C and D were  15%, 41%, 8% and 36% respectively.  678 (34%) of the study population remained untreated in the past 6 months prior to enrollment. Overall, treatment concordance rate was suboptimal  at  41.7%.  One of the major cause was overtreatment with LABA+ICS in Groups A, B and C (37-42%). Economic reason (85%) was the most frequent cause of non-adherence to prescribed COPD medications.

Conclusion: This present study provides the largest data set on the distribution of COPD patients by GOLD classification, clinical phenotypes and treatment patterns in the Philippines.

Keywords: COPD, GOLD classification, Philippines