FORCED EXPIRATORY VOLUME (FEV0.75) IN HEALTHY MALES AND IN TEXTILE WORKERS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Forced expiratory volumes (FEV0.75) were measured in 31 textile workers with byssinosis and in a control group consisting of 74 healthy male subjects and 34 male subjects with evident or suspected cardiopulmonary disease. Among the total control group, 16.7% had clinical evidence of nonindustrial chronic bronchitis or emphysema. A comparison was made between FEV0.75/body height ratios and their relationship to age in the byssinosis patients, in the healthy control subjects, and in the total control group. Regression analysis showed that the decrease of FEV0.75 with age was significantly larger in the patients with byssinosis than in both control groups. Loss of ventilatory function with age in the byssinosis group was comparable to that in the 34 diseased control subjects. It is concluded that long-term exposure to cotton or flax dust in industry causes a decrease of ventilatory lung function and that this decrease cannot be explained by the prevalence of chronic bronchitis or emphysema to be expected in any population sample.

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: