PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dushantha Madegedara
AU  - Sumedha Samankantha
AU  - Damith Nandadewe
AU  - Tharanga Wijethilake
AU  - Kavinda Amerasinghe
AU  - Nalaka Egodawela
TI  - An analysis of respiratory health in a cohort of villagers exposed to biomass fuel
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P4153
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4153.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4153.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Introduction: There is increasing evidence for a possible association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and the use of biomass fuels for cooking in developing countries. Data on the prevalence of COPD among these populations have not been widely available from Sri Lanka.Objective: To investigate the prevalence of COPD in a rural community that use biomass fuel and to assess their lung functions.Method: A cross sectional descriptive study. All females in the village using biomass fuel for cooking were screened using an interviewer administered questionnaire and spirometry was performed on all of them using Spirolab 111® portable spirometer.Results: 70 people were screened. Mean age was 45.34 (23 to 65) years. All were non smokers. 56 (80%) had respiratory symptoms. Out of those 17(30%) cough, 28 (50%) breathlessness on exertion and 11(20%) wheeze. 10 were diagnosed patients with asthma. Mean duration of exposure was 30.9 years with 32 (45.71%) having more than thirty years of exposure. It was noted that this exposure was intermittent, being exposed only during the time of cooking. Also the cooking conditions were such that the exposure was minimal. Except for the known asthmatics all others had normal spirometry.Conclusion: The study population did not have a single case of COPD despite having a significant duration of exposure to biomass fuel. However, majority of the population demonstrated respiratory symptoms. This could be due to symptoms being subjective and not severe enough to cause physiological abnormalities (lung Functions). Also the exposure pattern could have contributed to the non development of COPD.