BOLD (Burden Of Lung Disease) Survey

BOLD (Burden Of Lung Disease) is a survey that is about to start in Broome and Derby to see how much lung disease there is in those over 40 years of age. The same survey is occurring in Busselton, Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania and this information will be used to estimate the amount of lung disease in Australia. It is not known exactly how much lung disease there is and how severe it is in the community but it is thought that a lot more people have lung disease than is currently realized so knowing this will allow better planning to prevent and treat it.

Households have been randomly selected by using the local council residential listing and additional information gathered from the telephone book and information supplied by the Australian Electoral Commission. 480 people over the age of 40 in Broome and 480 people in Derby, both Indigenous and Non Indigenous, are needed to complete the survey.

The type of lung disease BOLD will be looking for is called Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease (COPD) and usually only occurs in those over 40.


• Chronic – means it has been there along time.
• Obstructive – means partially blocked.
• Pulmonary – means in the lungs.
• Disease – means sickness.

When air is breathed it goes in through the mouth or nose and into the windpipe. This is about 10-12 cm long and it splits in to two branches (bronchus) going into each lung. These split into smaller branches (bronchi) and then even into smaller branches (bronchioles). The bronchioles end in tiny air sacs called alveoli of which there is about 500 million in the lungs. Oxygen from the air passes from the alveoli into small capillaries containing blood while carbon dioxide passes from the blood into the alveoli.

COPD includes two lung diseases, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. In emphysema the alveoli get destroyed and the bronchi narrow so that oxygen is not being absorbed into the bloodstream as well as it being harder to breathe in and out. Chronic bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi and there is an overproduction of mucus and narrowing of the airways.

Because the airways are blocked breathing can be difficult. Symptoms include shortness of breath (the feeling like you can’t get enough air into your lungs), cough and phlegm. The cough and phlegm may occur many years before breathing becomes difficult. COPD can be mild or very severe and is one of the most important causes of death in most countries. People with COPD may find at times the symptoms are a lot worse than usual. This is called an exacerbation and is often caused by an infection.

The main cause of inflammation in COPD is tobacco smoke therefore the best way to not get COPD or to stop COPD getting worse is to not smoke. Non smokers however can also get COPD where exposure to some dusts, chemicals and fumes account for some cause. Genetic factors seem to be important in how severe the COPD progresses.

Although COPD cannot be cured, there are medications to manage the symptoms. In COPD flu shots can reduce serious illness and antibiotics are often required for an exacerbation. Exercise also helps with the shortness of breath and feelings of tiredness while in people with severe COPD, oxygen therapy may be needed. More information about COPD can be found here http://www.copdx.org.au/.

The Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council (KAMSC) is conducting the BOLD survey. In order to get a wide sample of people over 40 years of age, houses in Broome and Derby will be randomly picked and anyone over 40 years of age residing in the house will be asked to participate. The survey takes about 45 minutes and is in two parts. The first part is a questionnaire that asks questions in relation to general demographic information, possible symptoms of lung disease and identifying possible risk factors that may be causing the disease. The second part is measuring how well the lungs are functioning and this done with a machine called a spirometer.

A spirometer is a device that measure how much air can be blown out of the lungs. A person being tested (spirometry), takes the biggest breath they can and blows through a disposable tube as hard as they can for as long as possible The machine measures how much air has been blown in one and second and the total after six seconds. People with lung problems cannot blow out as hard or as much as people who have no problems with their lungs so their measurements will be lower. People with asthma may also record low values as well but COPD and asthma can generally be told apart by giving an asthma medication and seeing how the spirometry testing changes People with COPD tend to still have low values after this medication. More information about spirometry can be found here http://www.nationalasthma.org.au/html/management/spiro_res/index.asp

The BOLD survey is to start in early May and KAMSC hope Broome residents will enthusiastically participate. We will be knocking on doors and asking those over 40 to spare some time for the survey. If people are not home, information will be left with a phone number to contact the BOLD surveyors to arrange for a suitable time. A $20 gift voucher will be provided to those who participate to compensate for their time.

Our contact details are:

Unit 4, 20 Hamersley St, Broome • Telephone: (08) 91928355
Email: davidr@kamsc.org.au or maryl@kamsc.org.au

Any concerns or complaints about the research and the wish to talk to an independent person then contact:

Research Ethics Officer
Western Australian Aboriginal Health Information and Ethics Committee Office of Aboriginal Health Department of Health
189 Royal St East Perth 6004
Telephone: (08) 92224441
Facsimile: (08) 92224378
Email: bob.looten@health.wa.gov.au

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has provided name, address, gender and age-range information for this medical research study in conformity with Item 2 of subsection 90B(4) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and subregulation 9(a) of the Electoral and Referendum Regulations 1940. The information has been provided by the AEC on a confidential basis and may not be forwarded on or sold or otherwise disclosed or used for any purpose other than to contact participants for this medical research study.