Area deprivation predicts lung function independently of education and social class.
The cross-sectional association between socioeconomic status (at both the individual and area-based level) and lung function, as measured by forced expiratory volume in one second, in a large population-based cohort was investigated. The study population consisted of 22,675 males and females aged 39-79 yrs. They were recruited from the general community in Norfolk, UK using general practice age/sex registers, as part of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Norfolk). It was found that being in a manual occupational social class, having no educational qualifications and living in a deprived area all independently predicted significantly lower lung function, even after controlling for smoking habit. The influence of area-deprivation on lung function, independent of individual socioeconomic status and of individual smoking habit, suggests that apart from targeting individuals who are at high-risk, such as smokers, environmental determinants also need to be examined when considering measures to improve respiratory health.
Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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S
Shohaimi
A
A
Welch
S
S
Bingham
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R
Luben
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N
Day
N
N
Wareham
K T
KT
Khaw
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012143:Respiratory Physiological Phenomena; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology