Lung function of Chinese adults and the predictive value of peak flow rate to long-term incidence and prognosis of lung diseases

Background

Chronic lung diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has been the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in China. This high burden of chronic lung diseases may be due to increasing exposure to risk factors, but also to a lacking of population-based screening, poor early diagnosis and management, particularly in rural areas of China. The risk status for COPD in Chinese population is poorly understood, and large variations might be expected between urban and rural areas. Recent reports suggest that peak expiratory flow (PEF) measurements may be an inexpensive way of screening and initial identification of severe cases of COPD for subsequent confirmatory spirometry. But there are limited studies that assess the predictive value of PEF to lung diseases.

Aims

Therefore, we sought to investigate epidemic status of lung functions and risk for COPD across China, and to clarify the predictive value of PEF to the incidence and prognosis of chronic lung diseases.

Project plan

To describe the status of lung functions and evaluate the risk for COPD, information about lung diseases and related symptoms were collected by the standard questionnaire in this study. During the screening, PEF was measured using unified device. It’s measured three times for each participant, and the maximum value was recorded. Incidence of COPD and other lung diseases were also recorded.

This study had recruited 1.5 million participants from 31 provinces by the end of June 2017.

Publications and output

To access publications and other outputs relating to this project, see our publications webpage.

Funding organisations

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