Prevalence of respiratory symptoms in Parisian teenagers according to smoking habits

• Published in: Journal of epidemiology and community health (1979) Vol. 36; no. 3; pp. 202 - 204
• Main Authors: Neukirch, F, Liard, R, Cooreman, J, Perdrizet, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 01-09-1982; British Medical Association; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Behavior; Adolescents; Age distribution; Child; Cigarette smoking; Cigarettes; Cough; Female; Forced Expiratory Volume; Humans; Male; Men; Paris; Questionnaires; Respiration Disorders - epidemiology; Respiratory function; Respiratory symptoms; Secondary schools; Sex Factors; Smoking; Wheezing; Womens health; Paris; France, Paris
• ISSN: 0143-005X; 1470-2738
• DOI: 10.1136/jech.36.3.202

The relationship between respiratory symptoms and smoking habits, according to sex, was studied in 2266 teenagers attending secondary school in Paris. Among smokers, the prevalence of usual cough or phlegm, or both, was higher in girls than in boys, whereas such was not the case among non-smokers. That prevalence, as well as the proportion of people with wheezing, were more closely associated with the total number of cigarettes ever smoked by girls than by boys. Moreover, there was a weak but significant association between the total number of cigarettes smoked and respiratory function--FEV1/Ht3 in girls only.