Prevalence and determinants of self-reported chronic bronchitis among women in rural Central India.

BACKGROUND: Chronic respiratory conditions are increasingly becoming a cause of health concern with India attributing 11% of its mortality due to non-communicable diseases to chronic respiratory conditions. Chronic bronchitis and asthma take a large toll in terms of morbidity. Lesser number of studies have mentioned their counts of these conditions affecting women in rural area and therefore the present study was conducted with the objectives of determining the prevalence and correlates of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) in an area of a primary health centre in rural central India.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 24 villages of the study area. Women aged 40 years or more were interviewed using the IUATLD questionnaire. Chronic bronchitis was measured by using the standard criteria for chronic bronchitis, that is, "Presence of cough with expectoration for more than 3 months in a year for the past two or more years".

RESULTS: Prevalence of chronic bronchitis among women was found to be 2.7%. Factors like older age, presence of a cattle shed within house premises, storage of fertilizers inside house, history of allergy, past history of pulmonary tuberculosis emerged as significant correlates of chronic bronchitis.

CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides an insight into the prevalence of chronic bronchitis among rural women exposed to several epidemiological determinants and an opportunity to address the modifiable risk factors.