Burr M L, Charles T J, Roy K, Seaton A
Br Med J. 1979 Apr 21;1(6170):1041-4. doi: 10.1136/bmj.1.6170.1041.
A random sample of one in eight people aged 70 and over living at home in a south Wales town was surveyed to establish the prevalence of asthma. Subjects attended a screening clinic, where spirometry before and after an inhalation of salbutamol, skin prick testing, blood count, and sputum examination were carried out and a questionnaire answered. Those in whom asthma seemed at all likely were subsequently examined in detail in a chest clinic. Out of 485 subjects eligible, 418 (86.2%) were screened. Twelve (2.9%) had current asthma, of whom three had not previously been diagnosed as asthmatic and four were being treated but were unaware of the diagnosis. A further 15 (3.6%) had mild asthma or a history of the disease, giving a total prevalence of any history of asthma of 6.5%. Only one of the subjects who did not attend the screening clinic was known to have asthma, suggesting that the overall prevalence did not differ greatly from this figure. It was found that the disease might start or remit at any age. Thus in the elderly current asthma is more prevalent in men than women (5.1% compared to 1.8%) and in terms of spirometry is more severe. Two underlying disease processes may perhaps exist that fulfil criteria for asthma in the elderly, one causing sputum eosinophilia and the other a form of chronic bronchitis with reversible airways obstruction.
在南威尔士一个城镇，对在家居住的七旬及以上老人进行了八分之一的随机抽样调查，以确定哮喘的患病率。受试者前往筛查诊所，在那里进行了吸入沙丁胺醇前后的肺活量测定、皮肤点刺试验、血细胞计数和痰液检查，并填写了问卷。那些似乎有可能患哮喘的人随后在胸部诊所接受了详细检查。在485名符合条件的受试者中，418人（86.2%）接受了筛查。12人（2.9%）患有现患哮喘，其中3人此前未被诊断为哮喘患者，4人正在接受治疗但并不知道自己的诊断情况。另有15人（3.6%）患有轻度哮喘或有哮喘病史，哮喘病史的总患病率为6.5%。未参加筛查诊所的受试者中只有1人已知患有哮喘，这表明总体患病率与该数字相差不大。研究发现，这种疾病可能在任何年龄开始或缓解。因此，在老年人中，现患哮喘在男性中比女性更普遍（分别为5.1%和1.8%），且就肺活量测定而言病情更严重。可能存在两种符合老年人哮喘标准的潜在疾病过程，一种导致痰液嗜酸性粒细胞增多，另一种是伴有可逆性气道阻塞的慢性支气管炎。
