PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - N. Roche
AU  - F. Dalmay
AU  - T. Perez
AU  - C. Kuntz
AU  - A. Vergnenègre
AU  - F. Neukirch
AU  - J-P. Giordanella
AU  - G. Huchon
TI  - Impact of chronic airflow obstruction in a working population
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00089607
DP  - 2008 Jun 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 1227--1233
VI  - 31
IP  - 6
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/31/6/1227.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/31/6/1227.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2008 Jun 01; 31
AB  - 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 ≥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 ≥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.