CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a growing health problem in women. The major causative agent behind the disease is smoking, but there are few longitudinal studies concerning women’s health problems in this field.
In 1968, a population study of women in Göteborg, Sweden, was initiated; engaging 1462 women aged 38–60, representative of the female population of Göteborg. Subsequently, four follow-up examinations have been performed, the latest in
2000-2001, i.e. 32 years after the initial examination.

Lung function was measured as peak expiratory flow (PEF) by a peak flow meter in 1968-1969 and as PEF, vital capacity (VC) and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at the 2000-2001 examination. A 12-year follow-up study on lung function has previously been presented from this population, in which reduced PEF increased the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and death twelve years later, independent of the presence of risk factors for CVD.

In this paper, we present data concerning lung function, airway symptoms and health status in those women who were 38 years old at the initial examination and 70 years old at the 32-year follow up in 2000-2001. As there are only a few longitudinal studies concerning women’s health problems in this field and epidemiological studies of lung function impairment in women and risk factors in a long-term perspective are scarce we aimed to assess the possible association between selected risk factors among women and lung function, health status as well as airway symptoms in a 32-year perspective.