PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ulf Hedlund
AU  - Linnea Hedman
AU  - Bo Lundbäck
AU  - Eva Rönmark
TI  - Occupational air pollutants - More hazardous for respiratory health than smoking? Report from the obstructive lung disease in northern Sweden studies
DP  - 2012 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P3391
VI  - 40
IP  - Suppl 56
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3391.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P3391.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40
AB  - Background: Both smoking and occupational air pollutants (OAP) are risk factors for impaired respiratory health. Comparisons of their effects and how they interact are scarce.Aim: To compare the effects of ever smoking and ever OAP on non-malignant respiratory disorders and to assess their interactions.Material and methods: In a population-based incidence study of asthmatic and bronchitic disorders in northern Sweden, 5896 subjects answered a postal questionnaire in 1996 and in 2006 (79% of the responders in 1996). Cumulative incidences were calculated. Risk factors were analyzed in multiple logistic regressions adjusted for possible confounders and the results are presented as odds ratios (OR). Ever/never smoking (S) and ever/never OAP were used as a combined variable with four categories or as dichotomous variables, respectively.Result: Cumulative incidences for 10 years were for S0/OAP0 3.2 - 7.4, S1/OAP0 3.3 - 9.5, S0/OAP1 3.8 – 11.0, and for S1/OAP1 7.1 – 15.0. Using a combined variable with S0/OAP0 as the reference odds ratios were for S1/OAP0 0.99 – 1.8 with some significant results, S0/OAP1 1.0 – 2.2, with more significant results, and S1/OAP1 1.4 – 3.4 with all results significant. Interactions between smoking and OAP were mostly multiplicative for both asthmatic and bronchitic disorders. Population attributable risks based on dichotomous variables were for smoking about 15%, for OAP about 20%, and for smoking and/or OAP about 25%.Conclusion: OAP were at least as strong a risk factor as smoking for impaired respiratory health. Both smoking and OAP ought to be considered as possible confounders.