Variations in the prevalence across countries of chronic bronchitis and smoking habits in young adults
Open Access
- 1 July 2001
- journal article
- research article
- Published by European Respiratory Society (ERS) in European Respiratory Journal
- Vol. 18 (1), 85-92
- https://doi.org/10.1183/09031936.01.00087101
Abstract
The present work aims to assess the international variation in the prevalence of chronic bronchitis and its main risk factor, smoking habits, in young adults of 35 centres from 16 countries.Respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function were assessed in 17,966 subjects (20–44 yrs), randomly selected from the general population, in the frame of the European Community Respiratory Health Survey.The median prevalence of chronic bronchitis was 2.6%, with wide variations across countries (p<0.001; 0.7–9.7%). The prevalence of current smokers ranged 20.1–56.9% (p<0.001) with a median value of 40%. Current smoking was the major risk factor for chronic bronchitis, especially in males. Its effect increased according to number of pack-yrs: in males, the odds ratio of chronic bronchitis was 3.51 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.31–5.32) in 1–14 pack-yrs smokers and increased to 17.32 (9.97–30.11) in ≥45 pack-yrs smokers with respect to nonsmokers. Only 30% of the geographical variability in prevalence could be explained by differences in smoking habits, suggesting that other environmental and/or genetic factors may play an important role.In conclusion, chronic bronchitis is a substantial health problem even in young adults. The impressive prevalence in current smokers in most countries highlights the need to improve the quality of prevention.This publication has 17 references indexed in Scilit:
- Socioeconomic status, lung function and admission to hospital for COPD: results from the Copenhagen City Heart StudyEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1999
- Respiratory symptoms, lung function and use of health services among unemployed young adults in Spain. Spanish Group of the European Community Respiratory Health SurveyEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1998
- Air pollution and daily admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in six European cities: results from the APHEA project. Air Pollution and Health, a European ApproachEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1998
- The distribution of total and specific serum IgE in the European Community Respiratory Health SurveyJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 1997
- Prevalence and treatment of chronic airways obstruction in adults over the age of 45.Thorax, 1996
- Optimal assessment and management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The European Respiratory Society Task ForceEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1995
- Nonresponse bias in EC Respiratory Health Survey in ItalyEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1994
- Prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in elderly FinnsRespiratory Medicine, 1994
- The European Community Respiratory Health SurveyEuropean Respiratory Journal, 1994
- Decline of lung function and development of chronic airflow limitation: a longitudinal study of non-smokers and smokers in Busselton, Western Australia.Thorax, 1990