Chest
Clinical InvestigationsPrevalence of Chronic Bronchitis and Respiratory Function in a Group of Dairy Farmers in the French Doubs Province
Section snippets
MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study was undertaken with the cooperation of the Doubs Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA), the medical department of which organizes five yearly free physical examinations for all affiliated members (farmers and agricultural administrative workers). The examinations are carried out in premises made available by the localities concerned, near the patients' homes.
RESULTS
In the group of dairy farmers, 30 patients (12 percent) had symptoms of chronic bronchitis (23 men, 7 women) vs 15 (12 men, 3 women) in the control group, a statistically significant difference (OR, 2.13 ± [1.11 to 4.07]). The difference in prevalence of chronic bronchitis between the two groups was greater in patients aged 40 years and over (OR, 3.12 ± [1.3 to 7.9]) and, above all, in nonsmokers (OR = 7.56 ± [1.7 to 33.9]) (Table 2).
In the population as a whole, the prevalence of chronic
DISCUSSION
This study confirms that the dairy farmers' occupation is a risk factor for chronic bronchitis and bronchial obstruction.
The difference between the two groups with regard to both chronic bronchitis and bronchial obstruction appeared to be clear-cut only in subjects aged ≥40 years and in nonsmokers (regardless of sex). In a similar study in Vermont, Babott et al7 reported 25 percent chronic bronchitis sufferers in a group of male farmers compared with 17 percent in a control group (industrial
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank for their cooperation Prof. H. Allemand, Department of Epidemiology, Centre Hospitalier Régional de Besançon; Dr. D. Blum, Department of Statistics, Centre Hospitalier Régional de Besançon; Drs. C. Faucompre, D. Debieuvre, and F. Fahkfahk, Department of Chest Disease, Centre Hospitalier Régional de Besançon.
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Cited by (0)
Supported by the Medical Department (J. J. Laplante, M.D.) of the Mutualité Sociale Agricole du Doubs, the Assurances Mutuelles Agricoles de Bourgogne, Franche-Comté (Director J. Raison), and the Direction Départementale des Affaires Sanitaires et Sociales.
Manuscript received June 27; revision accepted October 14.