title: Paid employment in subjects with and without chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in five Latin American cities: the PLATINO study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a costly condition that frequently causes permanent work disabilities. Little information exists regarding the impact of COPD on work force participation and the indirect costs of the disease in developing countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the frequency of paid employment and factors influencing it in a Latin-American population-based study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Post-bronchodilator FEV(1)/FVC < 0.70 (forced expiratory volume in 1 s/forced vital capacity) was used to define COPD. Information regarding paid work  was assessed by the question 'At any time in the past year, have you worked for payment?'
  
  
  RESULTS
  Interviews were conducted with 5571 subjects; 5314 (759 COPD and 4554 non-COPD) subjects underwent spirometry. Among the COPD subjects, 41.8% reported having paid work vs.  57.1% of non-COPD (P < 0.0001). The number of months with paid work was reduced in COPD patients (10.5 ± 0.17 vs. 10.9 ± 0.06, P < 0.05). The main factors associated with having paid work in COPD patients were male sex (OR 0.33, 95%CI 0.23-0.47), higher  education level (OR 1.05, 95%CI 1.01-1.09) and younger age (OR 0.90, 95%CI 0.88-0.92). COPD was not a significant contributor to employment (OR 0.83, 95%CI 0.69-1.00, P = 0.054) in the entire population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the proportion of persons with  paid work is lower in COPD, having COPD appears not to have a significant impact on obtaining paid employment in the overall population of developing countries.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neumonología, Hospital Universitario de Caracas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela. mmdeoca@cantv.net
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes de Oca
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Halbert
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Talamo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Padilla
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Muiño
authors.forename: J R B
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Jardim
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valdivia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pertuzé
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: A M B
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Menezes
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003906:Developing Countries; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013147:Spirometry
chemical_list: D001993:Bronchodilator Agents