ORIGINAL RESEARCHES 167 www.journals.viamedica.pl Address for correspondence: Vasilios Raftopoulos, National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece; e-mail: vraftop1@gmail.com DOI: 10.5603/ARM.2019.0028 Received: 28.01.2019 Copyright © 2019 PTChP ISSN 2451–4934 Panagiota Koutsimpou 1 , Konstantinos Gourgoulianis 2 , Athina Economou 3 , Vasilios Raftopoulos 4 1 Municipality of Volos, Greece 2 University of Thessaly Medical School, Greece 3 University of Thessaly, Greece 4 National Public Health Organization, Athens, Greece Health status of patients who suffer from COPD, asthma and acute respiratory diseases in Greece in the era of economic crisis Abstract Introduction: In Greece, the last decade, the harsh austerity measures, that were enacted, had a huge impact on patients’ suffe- ring from chronic diseases. The aim of the current study was to assess the fnancial ability of the patients suffering from an acute or chronic respiratory disease hospitalized in an urban pulmonary university clinic in central Greece and to explore the correlation of their health status with their fnancial ability. Material and methods: An anonymous and self completed questionnaire was administered in the Greek language. It included the SF-36 and the EQ-5D-3L scale that are validated in the Greek language and a new scale (Financial Ability Scale, FAS) that has been developed and validated. Results: Half of the patients (55%) suffered from a chronic respiratory disease (64% COPD and 36% asthma) while 45% from an acute respiratory disease (pneumonia). Those suffering from COPD were mainly males (88.7%), over 65 years old (74.6%), with primary education or some primary (83.1%), covered by public health insurance (95.8%) and living with their families (91.5%). With the exception of anxiety/depression, the more the problems with mobility, self-care, usu- al activities and pain/discomfort, the worse the fnancial ability of the participants. Those > 65 years old, with fewer years of education, suffering from a chronic disease and those having a better experience from the current hospitaliza- tion, had a statistically signifcant lower VAS. Those aged > 65 years old reported a lower fnancial ability (26.00 ± 9.41 vs 29.24 ± 10.63) as well as those with a chronic respiratory disease (24.18 ± 7.90 vs 30.57 ± 11.98). The years li- ved with the disease correlated statistically and negatively (r = -0.232; p = 0.001) with the total fnancial ability score. Conclusion: Economic crisis in Greece, affected COPD burden in terms of fnancial ability, and quality of life. Key words: COPD, economic crisis, COPD burden, EQ-5D-3L Adv Respir Med. 2019; 87: 167–174 Introduction Chronic respiratory diseases and mainly chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) have traditionally a social and economic impact on the individuals and their families. COPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, which induces a socioeconomic burden. According to the 2018 GOLD report ( www.goldcopd.org), COPD prevalence varies across the countries due to the different crite- ria and the used methodology . It is estimated that in Europe (in four European regions with available data), the global mean prevalence of COPD is 12.38% [1]. Socioeconomic status remains a dominant social predictor of health, while lower education, lower household income, and lower socioeconomic status are associated with COPD [2, 3]. Additionally, socioeconomic status has a direct impact on health status in response to treatment for COPD [4]. Greece belongs to the countries with an estimated COPD prevalence between 15–20%. According to the Greek Obstructive Lung Disease Epidemiology and health ecoNomics (GOLDEN) study, the current profle of COPD patients in Greece includes: medi-