Prevalence of Respiratory Symptoms in an Industrial Population

Abstract

(1) An industrial population was sampled at random and 81.6 per cent of the sample was interviewed. The sample was separated into three groups: men involved in administrative and experimental work, men working on the factory floor, and women involved in clerical work. (2) The prevalence rate of respiratory symptoms in the population was ascertained. Chronic productive cough was present in 10.3 per cent of the respondents. (3) There was no statistically significant difference noted in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms between the younger (40 to 49) and older (50 to 59) respondents nor between men and women respondents. (4) The smoking habit of the three groups was remarkably similar. The women seem less inclined to stop smoking than did the men, and the very heavy smokers among the women (as determined by the consumption of over 9000 packs of cigarettes) seem at least as liable — and perhaps more liable — to develop the more severe forms of respiratory disease. (5) There was a statistically significant relationship, regardless of sex, between respiratory symptoms, pulmonary ventilation and cigarette smoking though some minor differences were noted. (6) A significant number of men involved in administrative work who had been heavy smokers and had consumed more than 9000 packs of cigarettes, had stopped smoking and they had prevalence rates of respiratory symptoms similar to that of people who had never smoked. This suggests that cigarette smoking is a reversible irritant. (7) The data were not sufficiently detailed to examine the effects of social class or atmospheric pollution. It is suggested that these two variables played relatively minor roles in the study, though the effect of atmospheric pollution in the results of other studies must be remembered.