Finding the hidden millions: restoration of early COPD diagnosis for Hull Lung Health Check participants to optimise treatment and improve outcomes
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a term used to describe long-term bronchitis and emphysema. It is a common, life-long and often severe condition caused by damage to the lungs and can lead to breathlessness, wheezing and coughing. In the UK, around 1.4 million people have been diagnosed with COPD, and a further 2 million are estimated to be undiagnosed.1
Diagnosing COPD is a challenge in the UK for various reasons including lack of public awareness about the disease, and difficulty in identifying and confirming COPD. These challenges were further exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic when available screening programmes using the current diagnostic standard of care, spirometry (as part of the NHS Lung Health Check), were stopped. In many areas, they have never recovered.
FRONTIER (Finding the hidden millions: restoration of early COPD diagnosis for Hull Lung Health Check participants to optimise treatment and improve outcomes) Hull is a collaborative working project between Chiesi Limited and Hull University Hospital, NHS Trust (now part of NHS Humber Health Partnership), to understand the impact of addressing this gap and share learnings with the NHS about potential approaches towards targeted screening.
Findings from the project highlight that targeted screening programmes may provide a valuable opportunity to address underdiagnosis of COPD by facilitating access to diagnostic testing and appropriate care to manage symptoms and prevent exacerbations.2 This could lead to cost savings for the NHS by reducing the use of emergency care due to uncontrolled COPD.
Professor Michael Crooks, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Hull York Medical School, Universty of Hull:
“Our project highlights the burden of undiagnosed COPD among those attending the Lung Health Check programme in Hull. Many of those diagnosed with COPD during FRONTIER were living with daily symptoms but had not been able to access treatment due to a lack of diagnosis. We were shocked at how many patients we were diagnosing with severe symptoms since previous barriers to COPD screening has been the argument that many people of those found would be living without symptoms or fairy minimal symptoms. Identifying people who are at high risk of COPD and offering diagnostic testing enables access to evidence-based COPD care that has potential to significantly improve health outcomes.”
The FRONTIER Hull project is continuing until September 2025. We will update this page as further insights become available.
Please check back from time to time or get in touch with us for more information at info@chiesi.uk.com.
Please click here to read the executive summary of the FRONTIER Hull project.
References
UK-CHI-2401023 | December 2024
