Skip to main content
PMC home page
British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.) logoLink to British Medical Journal (Clinical Research Ed.)
. 1987 May 23;294(6583):1317–1320. doi: 10.1136/bmj.294.6583.1317

Early respiratory experience and subsequent cough and peak expiratory flow rate in 36 year old men and women.

N Britten, J M Davies, J R Colley
PMCID: PMC1246484  PMID: 3109634

Abstract

Earlier work on the respiratory health of members of the Medical Research Council's national survey of health and development (1946 birth cohort) was extended to age 36. At that age measures of peak expiratory flow rate and respiratory symptoms, elicited by the MRC chronic bronchitis questionnaire, were made in 3261 cohort members. In both men and women lower peak expiratory flow and higher respiratory morbidity were independently associated not only with current indices of poor social circumstances and cigarette smoking but also with poor home environment at age 2 years and lower respiratory tract illness before age 10. The findings provide additional evidence for a causal relation between childhood respiratory experience and adult respiratory disease.

Full text

PDF
1319

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Barker D. J., Osmond C. Childhood respiratory infection and adult chronic bronchitis in England and Wales. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986 Nov 15;293(6557):1271–1275. doi: 10.1136/bmj.293.6557.1271. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Burrows B., Knudson R. J., Lebowitz M. D. The relationship of childhood respiratory illness to adult obstructive airway disease. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1977 May;115(5):751–760. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1977.115.5.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Colley J. R., Douglas J. W., Reid D. D. Respiratory disease in young adults: influence of early childhood lower respiratory tract illness, social class, air pollution, and smoking. Br Med J. 1973 Jul 28;3(5873):195–198. doi: 10.1136/bmj.3.5873.195. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Colley J. R., Holland W. W., Leeder S. R., Corkhill R. T. Respiratory function of infants in relation to subsequent respiratory disease: an epidemiological study. Bull Eur Physiopathol Respir. 1976 Sep-Oct;12(5):651–657. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kiernan K. E., Colley J. R., Douglas J. W., Reid D. D. Chronic cough in young adults in relation to smoking habits, childhood environment and chest illness. Respiration. 1976;33(3):236–244. doi: 10.1159/000193738. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. McCarthy P., Byrne D., Harrisson S., Keithley J. Respiratory conditions: effect of housing and other factors. J Epidemiol Community Health. 1985 Mar;39(1):15–19. doi: 10.1136/jech.39.1.15. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. OSWALD N. C., HAROLD J. T., MARTIN W. J. Clinical pattern of chronic bronchitis. Lancet. 1953 Sep 26;265(6787):639–643. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(53)90369-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. REID D. D., FAIRBAIRN A. S. The natural history of chronic bronchitis. Lancet. 1958 May 31;1(7031):1147–1152. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(58)91950-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Reid D. D. The beginnings of bronchitis. Proc R Soc Med. 1969 Apr;62(4):311–316. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Samet J. M., Tager I. B., Speizer F. E. The relationship between respiratory illness in childhood and chronic air-flow obstruction in adulthood. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1983 Apr;127(4):508–523. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1983.127.4.508. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Medical Journal (Clinical research ed.) are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES