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Excessive longitudinal FEV 1 decline and risks to future health: A case–control study
Author(s) -
Wang Mei Lin,
Avashia Bipin H.,
Wood John,
Petsonk Edward L.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.20764
Subject(s) - medicine , percentile , cohort , copd , vital capacity , respiratory disease , demography , pediatrics , lung function , lung , statistics , mathematics , sociology , diffusing capacity
Background Accelerated loss of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1 ) in an individual is considered an indicator of developing lung disease. Methods We investigated longitudinal FEV 1 slopes, calculated by simple linear regression, and adverse health outcomes after 10–30 years, among 1,428 chemical plant workers. Cases were defined by FEV 1 slopes below 5th percentile values for the cohort. Cases were matched with controls (107 pairs) for race, gender, smoking status, year of birth, age, height, and calendar year at first test. Matched pair statistics were used for comparisons. Results Cases had a higher proportion, compared to controls, of diagnosis of COPD or emphysema (17.8% vs. 1.9%, P = 0.0002), medication use for respiratory diseases (24.3% vs. 4.7%, P < 0.0001), dyspnea (15% vs. 3.7%, P = 0.0042), and wheezing or rhonchi on examination (10.3% vs. 1.9%, P = 0.0225). Conclusions Chemical plant workers who experienced accelerated FEV 1 declines experienced four to nine times as many adverse health conditions over 10–30 years. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:909–915, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.