Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is attributable to household air pollution and is known to increase the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), morbidity and mortality and women are most susceptible groups for the exposure. In order to understand the global risk among women with COPD due to exposure of household air pollutants, an evidence-based systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. Meta regression analysis was carried out to identify potential sources of heterogeneity. The summary estimates of the included studies showed higher prevalence of COPD due to biomass fuel exposure in women. Clinical diagnosis has shown more risk of COPD prevalence compared to diagnosis based on spirometer test alone. However, the data between included studies for both clinical and spirometry-based studies showed higher heterogeneity. The present meta-data analysis has shown that household air pollutants may be a factor associated with increased risk of COPD in women.
Keywords: COPD; biomass; meta-analysis; systematic review; women.