Directly measured secondhand smoke exposure and COPD health outcomes

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

Table 1 Characteristics of adult non-smoking participants with COPD

Characteristic	Overall non-smoking COPD cohort (n = 152)	Participants in direct SHS exposure assessment study
		Completed initial assessment (n = 77)	Completed baseline and 1 year follow-up assessment (n = 68)
Age (yrs)	64.4 (6.0)	65.0 (6.4)	64.8 (6.2)
Male gender (%)	55 (36%)	30 (39%)	27 (40%)
Race-ethnicity (white, non-hispanic)	138 (91%)	72 (94%)	65 (96%)
Educational attainment
High school or less	75 (49%)	33 (43%)	31 (46%)
Some college	44 (29%)	26 (34%)	20 (29%)
College graduate or graduate degree	33 (22%)	18 (23%)	17 (25%)
Past smoking history (%)	109 (72%)	51 (66%)	45 (66%)
COPD severity score	8.2 (6.3)	8.3 (6.6)	8.2 (6.7)
SF-12 physical component summary score	35.0 (11.8)	34.8 (11.7)	35.4 (11.6)
Airways Questionnaire 20 (AQ-20)	8.6 (5.0)	8.5 (4.7)	8.5 (4.6)
Modified MRC dyspnea score	2.5 (1.2)	2.5 (1.2)	2.5 (1.2)

Higher scores on COPD severity score, Airways Questionnaire 20, and modified MRC dyspnea score = poorer health status; higher score on SF-12 Physical Component Summary Score = better health status. There were no statistical differences between non-smoking COPD participants who did and did not complete initial direct SHS assessment (p > 0.15, all cases) (data for those who did not complete initial direct SHS assessment are not shown separately); also no differences between those who completed initial direct SHS assessment who did and did not complete 1 yr follow-up (p > 0.05, all cases).

ISSN: 1471-2466