title: Trends in the prevalence of obstructive and restrictive lung function among adults in the United States: findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination surveys from 1988-1994 to 2007-2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  National spirometric surveillance data in the United States were last collected during 1988-1994. The objective of this study was to provide current estimates for obstructive and restrictive impairment of lung function and to examine changes since 1988-1994.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used data from 14,360 participants aged 20 to 79 years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III (1988-1994) and 9,024 participants from NHANES 2007-2010. Spirometry was conducted using the same spirometers and generally similar protocols.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 2007-2010, 13.5% (SE, 0.6) of participants had evidence of airway obstruction (FEV1/FVC &lt; 0.70): 79.9% of adults had normal lung function, 6.5% had a restrictive impairment, 7.5% had mild obstruction, 5.4% had moderate obstruction, and 0.7% had severe obstruction. Although the overall age-adjusted prevalence of any obstruction did not change significantly from 1988-1994 (14.6%) to 2007-2010 (13.5%) (P = .178), significant decreases were noted for participants aged 60 to 79 years and for Mexican Americans. The prevalence of current smoking remained high among participants with moderate (48.4%) and severe (37.9%) obstructive impairments. A significant decline in current smoking occurred only among those with normal lung function (P &lt; .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spirometry revealed little change in the prevalence of any obstructive and restrictive impairment in lung function during 2007-2010, compared with 1988-1994.
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA. Electronic address: eford@cdc.gov.
authors.forename: Earl S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, KY.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Mannino
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Anne G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Wheaton
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Wayne H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Giles
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Letitia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Presley-Cantrell
authors.affiliation: Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Janet B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Croft
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D015995:Prevalence; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants