Respiratory symptoms and lung function in Women

Abstract

Background: Respiratory symptoms and spirometric profile were studied in a respiratory health survey.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study analyzing chronic respiratory symptoms with measurement of respiratory function by spirometry in women aged 40 and over in Tizi-Ouzou in Algeria.

Results: 359 women are answered the questionnaire and performed spirometry; 323 who performed good quality spirometry were analysed. The prevalence of respiratory symptoms was 83.6%. Dyspnea was found in 76.4%; it was present alone in 43.03%, wheezing in 28.2%, coughing in 27.2% and expectoration in 14.2%. The associations of respiratory symptoms reported were: wheezing and dyspnoea in 8.7%; cough, wheeze and dyspnoea in 7.4% and the four symptoms in 8.4%. The obstructive spirometric profile is found respectively in 7.1%, 4.2% and 3.7%; while it is 0.7% in the group with dyspnea alone. A normal spirometry is found in 89.6% of symptomatic women; 7.9% reported having asthma and 1.5% had COPD according to ATS/ERS criteria. The proportion of each respiratory symptom increased with increasing BMI and wheezing was the predominant symptom in obese women in 64.8%. In women exposed to active and passive smoking, respiratory symptoms were present in 100% and 84.7% respectively (p=0.7). In women exposed to biomass, 85.2% had chronic respiratory symptoms compared to 81.3% in those not exposed (OR: 1.32 [0.73-2.38] (P=0.36).

Conclusion: Chronic respiratory symptoms are very common. It is essential to combine respiratory symptoms and spirometry to detect disorders of respiratory function. The large number of normal spirometries in subjects symptoms should not neglect the possibility of evolution towards a ventilatory disorder, hence the need for follow-up.