Introduction: We investigated whether the forced expiratory volume in 6 s (FEV6) can be used as a surrogate for the forced vital capacity (FVC). Methods: The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease is a multinational cohort study. At baseline, data were collected from adults aged 40 years or older, from 41 sites across 34 countries. Participants from 18 sites were followed up after a median of 8.3 years. Participant...
Background: Chronic cough is a common respiratory symptom with an impact on daily activities and quality of life. Global prevalence data are scarce and derive mainly from European and Asian countries and studies with outcomes other than chronic cough. In this study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic cough across a large number of study sites as well as to identify its main risk factors using a stan...
Background: Chronic cough is a common respiratory symptom with an impact on daily activities and quality of life. Global prevalence data are scarce and derive mainly from European and Asian countries and studies with outcomes other than chronic cough. In this study, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of chronic cough across a large number of study sites as well as to identify its main risk factors using a stan...
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposure in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods: We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organ...
Smoking is the most well-established cause of chronic airflow obstruction (CAO) but particulate air pollution and poverty have also been implicated. We regressed the sex-specific prevalence of CAO from 41 Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study sites against smoking prevalence from the same study, the gross national income per capita, and the local annual mean level of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) using ...
Smoking is the most well-established cause of chronic airflow obstruction (CAO) but particulate air pollution and poverty have also been implicated. We regressed sex-specific prevalence of CAO from 41 Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study sites against smoking prevalence from the same study, the gross national income per capita and the local annual mean level of ambient particulate matter (PM2.5) using negat...
We are very grateful to Dr. Vanfleteren and colleagues for commenting on our data regarding overdiagnosed COPD2 and for putting this evidence into the framework of the current understanding of the disease. Based on the data presented on overdiagnosis, and on prior Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) observations on underdiagnosis,3 we truly believe that our worldwide community of pulmonary specialists cou...
Background: There are several reports on the underdiagnosis of COPD, while little is known about COPD overdiagnosis and overtreatment. We describe the overdiagnosis and the prevalence of spirometrically defined false-positive COPD, as well as their relationship with overtreatment across 23 population samples in 20 countries participating in the BOLD Study between 2003 and 2012. Methods: A false-positive diagnos...