Disability due to COPD in Ukraine

COPD is responsible for disability and significant costs to healthcare systems, and in Ukraine, it is the most important cause of disability of all respiratory diseases. <bold>Aim:</bold> to calculate the level of disability due to COPD in Ukraine in the last five years and to identify the main disabling factors. With the help of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, we examined the continuous sample of all people with disabilities due to COPD in Ukraine in 2019-2023 years. To assess the factors influencing disability the most, we analyzed the documentation, and we performed the factor analysis of 146 disabled COPD patients, 86.2% male, with an average age of 54±2 years and an average postFEV1 of 53,1±1,4. During 2019-2023, the level of disability among the working population was 0.9-0.7-0.8-0.8-1.4 per 10 thousand. A noticeable increase in 2023 can be explained by reasons connected to the war in Ukraine – issues with employment, searching for social support, etc. The late diagnostics of the disease (GOLD 3-4) was observed in 47%. According to the factor analysis data, the onset of disability was influenced by the following: late diagnostics, late start of the treatment, concomitant cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type 2, and smoking. The average life expectancy of a COPD patient after receiving a disability in Ukraine was 5.5 years. Reducing the level of disability will save the state's human resources. One of the priorities of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in 2024 is the inclusion of COPD medications in the reimbursement program "Available Medicines," which should lead to improved provision of patients with free bronchodilators.