Respiratory consequences of light and moderate smoking in young adults in Chile.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between smoking and respiratory symptoms, lung function and bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) in young adults in Chile.


METHODS
Selected sample of 1232 subjects aged 22-28 years.


METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, the outcome measures were: respiratory symptoms, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% (FEF25-75), FEV1/FVC and BHR.


RESULTS
Among the 1232 subjects, 67.7% of the men and 49.4% of the women were smokers; the median cigarettes smoked per day was four for men and three for women. Smoking was associated with wheezing, waking up with a cough, breathlessness following exercise and persistent cough, with odds ratios (OR) between 1.94 (95% CI 1.41-2.66) and 3.12 (95% CI 2.21-4.40) among those smoking > or = 5 cigarettes per day, compared to non-smokers. Smoking < 5 cigarettes was significantly associated with wheezing and waking up with a cough. Smokers had a lower FEV1/FVC than non-smokers by approximately 0.8%. Smoking was not associated with FEV1, FEF25-75 or BHR status.


CONCLUSIONS
This study highlights the early effects of smoking on respiratory symptoms. It could help governments in Latin America take vigorous action to deter young people from starting smoking.
Amigo
H
H
Department of Nutrition, University of Chile, Santiago. hamigo@med.uchile.cl
Oyarzun
M G
MG
Bustos
P
P
Rona
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D002677:Chile; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D012907:Smoking / Q000503:physiopathology*