Skip to main content

Table 2 Frequency of wheezes, crackles and both by characteristics of the study population

From: Prevalence and clinical associations of wheezes and crackles in the general population: the Tromsø study

 

Normal

Wheezes, no crackles

Crackles, no wheezes

Both crackles and wheezes

 

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

All (n = 4033)

2902 (72.0%)

599 (14.9%)

402 (10.0%)

130 (3.2%)

Age

  < 65 years

1539 (77.8%)

277 (14.0%)**

123 (6.2%)***

40 (2.0%)***

  ≥ 65 years

1363 (66.4%)

322 (15.7%)

279 (13.6%)

90 (4.4%)

Gender

 Male

1389 (74.1%)

190 (13.4%)

251 (10.1%)

44 (2.3%)

 Female

1513 (70.1%)

348 (16.1%) *

212 (9.8%)

86 (4.0%)**

Body-mass index

  < 30

2232 (71.8%)

483 (15.5%)*

292 (9.4%)

101 (3.2%)

  ≥ 30

663 (72.6%)

114 (12.5%)

107 (11.7%)

29 (3.2%)

Smoking status

 Never smoker

1209 (75.5%)

227 (14.2%)

133 (8.3%)**

33 (2.1%)**

 Current smoker

299 (62.7%)

89 (18.7%) **

64 (13.4%) **

25 (5.2%) **

 Previous smoker

1349 (71.2%)

278 (14.7%)

198 (10.4%)

70 (3.7%)

Self-reported disease

 Healthy †

1177 (76.8%)

218 (14.0%)

120 (7.0%)***

38 (2.4%)*

 Hypertension

722 (70.1%)

151 (14.7%)

120 (11.7%)

37 (3.6%)

 Myocardial Infarction

123 (62.1%)

35 (17.7%)

30 (15.2%) *

10 (5.1%)

 Heart failure

32 (65.3%)

11 (22.4%)

5 (10.2%)

1 (2.0%)

 Atrial Fibrillation

114 (66.3%)

29 (16.9%)

25 (14.5%)

4 (2.3%)

 COPD

95 (59.0%)

27 (16.8%)

30 (18.6%) ***

9 (5.6%)

 Asthma

209 (64.5%)

55 (17.0%)

38 (11.7%)

22 (6.8%) **

 Rheumatoid arthritis

129 (64.5%)

29 (14.5%)

30 (15.0%) *

12 (6.0%)

 Airways infection last week §

427 (73.5%)

89 (15.3%)

44 (7.6%)*

21 (3.6%)

Dyspnea

mMRC

 mMRC 0

1996 (74.2%)

388 (14.4%)

239 (8.9%)**

68 (3.7%)**

 mMRC 1

688 (69.7%)

148 (15.0%)

111 (11.2%)

40 (4.1%)

 mMRC 2–4

109 (57.4%)

30 (15.8%)

36 (18.9%) ***

15 (7.9%) ***

 Breathing worse than usual §

321 (71.0%)

70 (15.5%)

47 (10.4%)

14 (3.1%)

Oxygen saturation SpO2

  ≤ 95%

106 (58.2%)

25 (13.7%)

35 (19.1%)***

16 (8.8%)***

Spirometry

 FEV1 < LLN ‡

175 (61.2%)

52 (18.2%)

40 (14.0%)*

19 (6.6%)***

  1. Abbreviations: mMRC = Modified Medical Research Council questionnaire, FEV1 = Forced Expiratory Volume in one second, LLN = Lower limit of Normal
  2. Plus-minus values are means + − SD
  3. Percentages (%) represent the distribution of each variable between the different groups
  4. ***p value <.001, **p value <.01, *p value <.05 as compared to normal
  5. † Not current smokers who stated not to have any of the diseases considered for this analysis
  6. ‡ Calculated from Global Lung Function Initiative reference (GLI)
  7. § On examination day
Back to article page

BMC Pulmonary Medicine

ISSN: 1471-2466

Contact us