Self-Assessment Questions (SAQs) for Study Session 4

Now that you have completed this study session, you can assess how well you have achieved its Learning Outcomes by answering these questions. Write your answers in your Study Diary and discuss them with your Tutor at the next Study Supporting Meeting. You can check your answers with the Notes on the Self-Assessment Questions at the end of this Module

SAQ 4.1 (tests Learning Outcomes 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3)

Which of the following statements is false? In each case, explain what is incorrect.

A  COPD is a progressive disease, which affects the cardiovascular system.

B  Wheezing, breathlessness and a cough with production of large amounts of mucus in the lungs are the major symptoms of COPD.

C  Air entering the body travels down the oesophagus into the lungs.

D  In COPD, the air sacs lose elasticity and their walls can break down.

E  Bronchial asthma is mainly a disease of elderly people.

F  Exposure to pollen and animal hair can cause COPD.

Answer

A is false. COPD is a disease which affects the respiratory system (not the cardiovascular system).

B is true. Wheezing, breathlessness and a cough with production of large amounts of mucus in the lungs are the major symptoms of COPD.

C is false. Air entering the body travels down the trachea (not the oesophagus) into the lungs. The oesophagus carries food and drinks from the mouth into the stomach. If you got this wrong, look back at Figure 2.2 in Study Session 2.

D is true. In COPD, the air sacs lose elasticity and their walls can break down – this condition is called emphysema.

E is false. Bronchial asthma can affect all ages, but it is much more common than COPD in young adults and it is very common in children. It is COPD that mainly affects older adults and elderly people.

F is false. Asthma (not COPD) can be caused by exposure to pollen and animal hair – but only in people who are sensitive to these allergens.

SAQ 4.2 (tests Learning Outcomes 4.1, 4.3 and 4.5)

  • a.What is the most common risk factor for COPD, and what other risk factors may contribute to this condition?
  • b.What advice will you give your community members to combat this risk factor, and what other diseases could be prevented by doing so?

Answer

  • a.The most common risk factor for COPD is cigarette smoking; other risk factors could include second-hand tobacco smoke, air pollution, chemical fumes and dust from the environment and workplace, and indoor smoke from cooking fires – particularly if dried animal dung is used.
  • b.You should always teach people in your community that smoking tobacco is dangerous to health and may cause serious illnesses, including COPD, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer. It is also an inducing factor for bronchial asthma.

SAQ 4.3 (tests Learning Outcomes 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5)

Table 4.1 presented a questionnaire to help you to evaluate if someone has got COPD or has risk factors for COPD. Imagine that you asked Mr Sileshi all the questions in Table 4.1. He answered ‘Yes’ to Questions 4 and 6, but to all other questions he answered ‘No’.

  • What advice will you give Mr Sileshi and why?

Answer

Your advice to Mr Sileshi is that he should stop smoking and make sure he wears a mask to protect his lungs from exposure to dust or chemicals during his work. Tell him that both these factors increase his risk of developing COPD, which is a permanent disabling disease that cannot be reversed. Advise him to go at once for screening for COPD if he develops any of the characteristic symptoms: cough with production of mucus, breathlessness, wheezing and tightness in the chest.

Read Case Study 4.1 and then answer the questions that follow it.

Case Study 4.1  Mihret becomes suddenly breathless

Mihret is a 25-year-old woman who comes to you complaining that when she was cooking in her house this morning, she suddenly felt very tight in her chest and had difficulty breathing. This is the first time this has happened. She went outside into the fresh air and her breathing returned to normal within about 15 minutes. You asked her if she or any family members smoke tobacco and she says ‘No’. You asked if there was smoke in the house from the cooking fire and Mihret said ‘Yes, the house is always smoky when I am cooking’.

SAQ 4.4 (tests Learning Outcomes 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5)

  • a.What condition do you suspect that Mihret has experienced? Explain your answer.
  • b.What could have caused it?
  • c.What advice do you give her?

Answer

  • a.You suspect that Mihret has experienced an attack of bronchial asthma. Your reasons are that she is too young to be developing COPD and she does not smoke tobacco or live with anyone who smokes. Also, the attack of tightness in her chest and breathlessness began suddenly and went away after about 15 minutes. COPD symptoms begin gradually over many years and they don’t get better.
  • b.You noticed that her breathlessness stopped when she went outside into the fresh air, so the most likely cause of her asthma attack is the smoke from cooking inside the house, which she was breathing in.
  • c.The advice you should give her is to try to avoid breathing in smoke; for example she could cook outdoors, or fit a flue to her stove or a chimney over her cooking fire to take the smoke out of the house.

Summary of Study Session 4