A One-Year Retrospective Analysis of Patients Seen in Adult Health Board Evaluations in Terms of Pulmonary Diseases

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the distribution of respiratory diseases and objectively assess pulmonary disability rates among patients referred to the health committee for disability evaluation.

Material and Methods: Records of patients admitted to the medical board of Düzce University Hospital between January 2024 and December 2024 and evaluated for chest diseases were retrospectively evaluated.

Results: Of the 2362 patients who applied to the health board,26%(n:615)were evaluated by the chest diseases department. The average age of the 615 patients was 58±15, and 399 of them were male (64.9%). The reason for application was 69.6% disability, 26.8% invalidity, and 3.6% other reasons. The most common symptoms were dyspnea (76.6%) and cough (30.7%). The most frequent diagnoses related to chest diseases in the health board were chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at 24.7%, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) at 10.1%, and asthma at 7.8%. Applicants for disability, women, those who have never smoked or have quit, and those with shortness of breath and COPD were found to be significantly older. Those with OSA were younger than those without it. It was observed that men who applied to the health board received significantly higher disability scores compared to women (73.8% / 56.3%).

Conclusion: Although the Pulmonology branch is not a compulsory member of the health boards, it was observed to be included in the health board evaluations at a significant rate. It was observed that young people mostly applied to the health committee due to OSA, while the elderly applied to the health committee due to COPD and received a disability rate. Although OSA is a disease that increases with age, it has been shown in our study that young patients mostly apply for disability rates based on this disease.

Keywords

• Health board
• adult
• disability
• chest diseases

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