The national chronic obstructive pulmonary disease screening program in China: rationale and design

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the most prevalent chronic respiratory disease in China. It is estimated that there is a large amount of high-risk population who will develop into COPD in the future whereas have not yet been detected.

Methods and Design In this context, a nationwide COPD screening program was launched on 9 October, 2021. This multi-stage sequential screening program, incorporates a previously validated questionnaire (i.e. COPD Screening Questionnaire), pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry to target the COPD high-risk population. The program plans to recruit a total of 800 000 participants (eligible age of 35 to 75 years) from 160 districts or counties of 31 provinces, autonomous regions or municipalities across China. The filtered COPD high-risk population and early-detected COPD patients will then be administrated integrated management and be followed up for at least one year respectively.

Discussion This is the first large-scale prospective study to determine the net benefit of mass screening for COPD in China. Elaborately, whether the smoking cessation rate, morbidity, mortality, and health status of individuals at high-risk of COPD could be improved along with this systematic screening program will be observed and validated. Moreover, the diagnostic accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and superiority of the screening program will also be assessed and discussed. The program will make a remarkable achievement in management of chronic respiratory disease in China.