[Pulmonary function in first generation children of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients: assessment of related predicting factors].

OBJECTIVE

To study whether familial aggregation exists in pulmonary function impairment and COPD.

METHODS

Pulmonary function, smoking habits, history of occupational dust exposure and clinical manifestation among 117 children of 59 smokers with COPD and 55 children of 28 control smokers without COPD. A multivariate linear regression analysis was carried out to study FEV1 among the children. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to study the factors influencing the FEV1 < 70% pred.

RESULTS

Height and male gender were positively correlated to children's FEV1 (ml); whereas age, clinical symptoms, history of occupational dust exposure and being children of diseased probands were negatively correlated to children's FEV1 (ml). With other relevant factors adjusted, the FEV1 (ml) was lower among those being children of COPD patients; the more severe the COPD conditions of the parents, the lower the FEV1 of the children. Cigarette consumption having clinical symptoms, and being children of COPD probands showed increased risk of FEV1 below 70% predicted (OR = 1.987). Height, age, and history of occupational dust exposure were not correlated to FEV1 < 70% pred among children.

CONCLUSION

Being children of COPD parents is the independent risk factor for lower FEV1 (ml) and FEV1 below 70% pred, which demonstrates the presence of familial aggregation of COPD and pulmonary function impairment.