title: Impact of chronic airflow obstruction in a working population.
abstract: Data on the individual and collective impact of chronic airflow obstruction at a population level are scarce. In a nationwide survey, dyspnoea, quality of life and missed working days were compared between subjects with and without spirometrically diagnosed chronic airflow obstruction. Subjects aged > or =45 yrs were recruited in French health prevention centres (n = 5,008). Results of pre-bronchodilator spirometry and questionnaires (European Community Respiratory Health Survey-derived questionnaire and European quality of life five-dimension questionnaire) were collected. Adequate datasets were available for 4,764 subjects aged 60+/-10 yrs (only 2% were aged > or =80 yrs). The prevalence of airflow obstruction (forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity of <0.70) was 7.5%. The vast majority (93.9%) of cases had not been diagnosed previously. Health status was significantly influenced by dyspnoea. Both were associated with the number of missed working days. Despite mild-to-moderate severity, subjects with chronic airflow obstruction exhibited more dyspnoea, poorer quality of life and higher numbers of missed working days (mean 6.71 versus 1.45 days.patient(-1).yr(-1) in patients without airflow obstruction, for the population with no known heart or lung disease). In conclusion, even mild-to-moderate airflow obstruction is associated with an impaired health status, which represents an additional argument in favour of early detection in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
authors.affiliation: René Descartes University of Paris, Respiratory and Intensive Care Medicine, Hôtel-Dieu Hospital, France. nicolas.roche@htd.aphp.fr
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Roche
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dalmay
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kuntz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vergnenègre
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Neukirch
authors.forename: J-P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Giordanella
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huchon
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004417:Dyspnea / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018582:Sick Leave; D013147:Spirometry