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EPHT – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

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Contact Information
Environmental Public Health Tracking Program

PO Box 570
Jefferson City, MO 65102-0570

Email
EPHTN@health.mo.gov
Phone
573-751-6400

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, is a long-lasting lung disease. COPD includes several long-term lung diseases, most commonly chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The Missouri Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) Program provides data on emergency department and hospital visits for COPD in Missouri.   

Announcements

Get the Facts │ COPD is a leading cause of death in the United States.

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Get the Facts │ Three out of four people with COPD are current or former smokers.

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Get the Facts │ Childhood exposures or illnesses can increase your risk of COPD later in life. 

Announcements

Get the Facts │ Breathing second-hand smoke or air pollution, having asthma, or having serious respiratory infections as a child might increase your risk of COPD later in life.

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The American Lung Association says that women are more likely than men to have their lungs damaged by smoking and breathing in pollutants from the air.

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What is COPD?

COPD is a long-term lung disease that gets worse over time, making it hard to breathe. Most people with COPD have both chronic bronchitis and emphysema to some extent. 

Chronic bronchitis causes swelling and a build-up of mucus in the bronchial tubes, which carry air to the lungs. Narrowing of the bronchial tubes, along with the mucus, blocks airflow and causes a cough.

Emphysema slowly damages the alveoli, which are tiny air sacs in the lung. This damage weakens and breaks the inner walls of the air sacs. When the alveoli are damaged, less oxygen can get into the bloodstream, which causes shortness of breath. 

Smoking is the main cause of COPD. About 90% of people with COPD are either smokers or used to smoke. 

Other things that can lead to COPD or make it worse include breathing secondhand smoke; air pollution; or dust, smoke, or fumes at work. 

While there's no cure for COPD, treatments like oxygen therapy, surgery, or certain drugs can help ease the symptoms. The best way to avoid COPD is to not smoke!

COPD Data

Emergency Department and Hospitalization Data

  • Missouri EPHT - COPD Query

    Search this query to find:

    Annual numbers of emergency department visits and hospitalizations

    Annual crude rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations, per 10,000 residents

    Annual age-adjusted rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations, per 10,000 residents
     

Other Data Sources

Other data sources share additional data on COPD, including data on the number of people diagnosed and living with COPD.

COPD data can help you:

  • See if some communities or populations are at higher risk of COPD
  • See if COPD is going up or down over time
  • Direct resources for preventing and controlling COPD
  • See progress towards lowering COPD risks

The National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program

Missouri Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) is a program within the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. EPHT is part of a network of people and information systems which delivers a core set of health, exposure, and hazards data, information summaries and tools to enable analysis, visualization and reporting of insights drawn from data. Those insights are intended to help data drive actions and improve community health.