Lack of awareness towards smoking-related health risks, symptoms related to COPD, and attitudinal factors concerning smoking: an Internet-based survey conducted in a random sample of the Danish general population

ABSTRACTBackground: Although chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality globally, several studies have shown little awareness of COPD in the general population. The awareness of COPD in the Scandinavian countries is, however, sparsely investigated.Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the awareness in the general Danish population of smoking-related health risks and symptoms related to COPD and attitudinal factors concerning smoking.Design: Adults aged 18 years or older were randomly selected to reflect the background population. An Internet-based questionnaire was conducted in January–February 2015.Results: A total of 1002 answered the questionnaire (515 males; 487 females). In total, 17.7% were current smokers (men: 15.5%–women: 19.9%). More smokers and ex-smokers knew the symptoms of COPD compared to never-smokers (p < 0.001). Ex-smokers had undergone more pulmonary function tests than smokers and never-smokers (p < 0.001) and signific...