Poorer people are more likely to die from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) than wealthier patients because of damp housing and low wages, researchers have found.
A survey of nearly 6,000 people living with COPD, one of the most common lung conditions in Britain, found that structural inequalities had a significant influence on whether a patient would survive.
Of the nearly 4,000 people who suffered two or more acute attacks a year, such as severe wheezing or coughing, 55% earned less than £20,000 a year and 13% lived in a cold and damp house.
The research, carried out by Asthma + Lung UK and published in BMJ Open Respiratory Research, builds on previous findings that poorer people with COPD are five times more likely to die than wealthier people with the condition.
More than 1.3 million people in the UK are affected by COPD, a group of lung conditions that include emphysema and chronic bronchitis, but many more are thought to have the condition without knowing it.
Symptoms include shortness of breath, constant coughing, wheezing and coughing up phlegm. It is estimated that around 30,000 people die from COPD each year in the UK.
Research conducted in 2020 found that the death rate among the wealthiest and poorest COPD patients has grown over the past 11 years.
The poorest 10% of patients are now five times more likely to die from the disease than the wealthiest, compared to four times more likely in 2009/11.
Professor Nick Hopkinson, chief medical officer of Asthma + Lung UK, said: “One of the impacts of inequality is that it affects some of the most vulnerable people in society and increases the risk of dying from lung disease.
“COPD is one of the biggest health problems in the UK and a major cause of hospital admissions, so not treating it is causing huge problems for the health and social system.”
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Of the 5,997 patients surveyed, the research found that of those experiencing two or more COPD exacerbations per year, 62% were more likely to smoke and 53% were more likely to have experienced occupational exposure to dust, fumes and chemical products.
Asthma + Lung UK said only 25% of people with COPD get the right care. He urged patients to get a self-management plan, access to pulmonary rehab, help to quit smoking, a flu and pneumonia shot and support in managing other conditions.