RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Tear gas causes small airway obstruction in women
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P4959
VO 44
IS Suppl 58
A1 Eda Uslu
A1 Gulcihan Ozkan
A1 Cagla Uyanusta Kucuk
A1 Hilal Onaran
A1 Cagla Pinar Tastan Uzunmehmetoglu
A1 Aslihan Ilgaz
A1 Gamze Ayar
A1 Makbule Ozlem Akbay
A1 Hikmet Firat
A1 Tansu Ulukavak Ciftci
A1 Serdar Akpinar
A1 Bulent Ciftci
A1 Selma Firat Guven
A1 Selen Bilekli
A1 Arif Muezzinoglu
A1 Fatih Torlak
A1 Peri Arbak
A1 Elif Dagli
YR 2014
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4959.abstract
AB Objective: There is little known about effects of tear gas on different genders. This study was carried out to investigate the respiratory complaints and lung functions in women and men exposed to tear gas.Methods: During the June 2013 public demonstrations questionnaire survey was performed and lung function measuremenst were done in 460 demonstrators from Istanbul and 86 from Ankara.Findings: 283 males (age:31.2±11.1) and 262 females (aged:31.2±9.9) participated in the study. Smoking rates were found to be 62.3% in females, and 64.1 % among males. Females exposed to gas indoors were significantly higher than males 31.5 % vs 20.4 % p=0.015). Among females , compared to males chest tightness (79.4% vs 66.3%,p=0.001), cough (87.3% vs 77.8%, p=0.003), chest pain (51.7% vs 41.8%) , nasal discharge (78.8% vs 70.3%, p=0.016) and skin irritation (54.2% vs 40.8%, p=0.002) were significantly morefrequent. Duration of symptoms in males compared to females such as chest tightness (4.9 hrs vs 5.6 hrs), cough (6.0 hrs vs 7.0 hrs), sputum production (18.2 hrs vs 23.7 hrs) were significantly shorter (p >0.05). Lung function measurements showed %FVC of 99.0 % in females and 98.5 % males (p>0.05) ; FEV1 96.0 % in females and 101.5 % in males (p>0.05). FEV1/FVC were similar in both genders (102.4% vs 102.3However MMFR values in females were significantly lower than males (89.8 % vs 97.4 % p=0.005).Conclusion : Higher rates of respiratory symptoms and lower small airway funcitons in females may be due to exposure indoors. Neverthless the possibility of gender response variability must be researched.