Montnémery R, Nihlén U, Andersson M, Greiff L, Johannisson A, Nyberg P, Persson C G A, Löfdahl C G
Department of Health Sciences, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Int J Tuberc Lung Dis. 2006 May;10(5):490-8.
To examine the prevalence of obstructive pulmonary diseases, respiratory symptoms, smoking habits and pulmonary medication in an adult population, and to compare the results with a study performed in the same geographical area in 1992.
In 2000, a postal questionnaire was sent to a randomly selected population of 5179 subjects aged 20-59 years living in southern Sweden.
The participation rate was 71.3%. Self-reported asthma was reported by 8.5% of all respondents (vs. 5.5% in 1992, P < 0.001) and 14.5% of females aged 20-29 years. Self-reported chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema and/or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (CBE/COPD) was reported by 3.6% (vs. 4.6% in 1992, non-significant) with the highest prevalence (5.7%) in the 50-59 year cohort. Smoking decreased from 33.3% in 1992 to 28.4% in 2000 (P < 0.05). About 46% of asthmatics reported nocturnal respiratory symptoms, and 69% reported having had asthma symptoms in the last 12 months. Use of inhaled steroids increased in subjects with asthma and CBE/COPD from 19.4% to 36.5% (P < 0.05) and from 8.6% to 30.0% (P < 0.05), respectively.
Self-reported asthma increased significantly between 1992 and 2000, but the prevalence of CBE/COPD was unchanged. The high proportion of reported symptoms in asthmatics despite an increased use of steroids suggests that further efforts are needed to improve asthma treatment.
