Respiratory symptoms as predictors of all‐cause mortality in an urban community: a 30‐year follow‐up

Abstract

Abstract. Frostad A, Søyseth V, Andersen A, Gulsvik A (Cancer Registry of Norway, Oslo; Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog; and University of Bergen, Bergen; Norway) Respiratory symptoms as predictors of all-cause mortality in an urban community: a 30-year follow-up. J Intern Med 2006; 259: 520-529.Objective. We investigated the relationship between respiratory symptoms and mortality from all causes in a large Norwegian population. We also examined mortality during separate periods of follow-up. Design. Population-based, prospective cohort study. Setting and subjects. A total of 19 998 men and women were randomly selected from the general population of Oslo. They received a postal respiratory questionnaire. The response rate was 88%. Main outcome measures. The relationship between 11 respiratory symptoms and 30 years of total mortality was investigated separately for men and women by multivariate analyses with adjustment for age, smoking habits and occupational exposure to air pollution.Results. The relative mortality risk in comparison with asymptomatic subjects varied from 1.36 (95% confidence interval 1.25-1.48) for cough symptoms to 2.46 (2.13-2.85) for severe dyspnoea amongst men; the corresponding rates amongst women were 1.28 (1.16-1.40) and 1.52 (1.31-1.75), respectively. The relative risk of mortality in individuals with 1-3, 4-6 and 7 or more symptoms was 1.20, 1.60 and 2.53 (P for trend 0.000) in men and 1.14, 1.47 and 1.84 (P for trend 0.000) in women. Except for cough, the mortality rates associated with respiratory symptoms decreased significantly during follow-up. The positive association between respiratory symptoms and mortality was observed in people with and without cardiopulmonary diseases. Conclusions. Respiratory symptoms were significant predictors of mortality from all causes over 30 years, decreased during follow-up and were still increased after 30 years.

Determinants of 40-year all-cause mortality in the European cohorts of the Seven Countries Study

“…Beyond the interest for cardiovascular diseases, this long observation prompted interest in allcause mortality and its determinants. A few studies have reported long-term analyses on all-cause deaths but rarely reaching 40-year of follow-up [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14].…”

Prospective Health Diary Study for New Onset Chest Symptoms in the Japanese General Population

“…In addition, previous studies suggest that chest symptoms are considered as important predictors of all-cause mortality (1)(2)(3)(4) …”

The Importance of Chronic Bronchitis in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

“…There is a robust series of studies demonstrating that Chronic Bronchitis is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. It is an independent risk factor for all cause mortality both in COPD (38), and in subjects with normal lung function, even when smoking has been accounted for (38)(39)(40). The overall ten year mortality following a diagnosis of chronic bronchitis is 50%, with respiratory failure following an acute exacerbation being the most frequent terminal event (41).…”