Objective

This study assessed the association between respiratory symptoms and mortality in four cohorts of the general population in Norway aged 15–75 years and in selected subgroups in the pooled sample.

Methods

The study comprised 158,702 persons, who were drawn randomly from the Norwegian population register. All subjects received a standardized, self-administered questionnaire on 11 respiratory symptoms between 1972 and 1998, with follow-up of death until December 31, 2017. Analyses were performed on 114,380 respondents.

Results

The hazard of death was closely associated with sex, age, and education. The hazard ratios (HR) for death and the 95% confidence intervals (CI) by risk factors were similar in the four cohorts. After adjustment for demographic and environmental, modifiable factors, the HR for death was 1.90 (95% CI 1.80–2.00) for breathlessness score 3, 1.28 (1.21–1.37) for cough/phlegm score 5 and 1.09 (1.05–1.14) for attack of breathlessness/wheeze score 2 compared to the referent (no symptom), respectively. The cough/phlegm score was associated with death in current smokers but not in never smokers or ex-smokers. Breathlessness score was associated with death in men and women.

Conclusion

Among persons aged 45–75 years, respiratory symptoms were significant predictors of all cause mortality. Education and smoking habits influenced only the associations between coughing and mortality. The associations were independent of study sites.

中文翻译：

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45岁以上的四个普通人群的呼吸道症状和死亡率。

目的

这项研究评估了挪威15至75岁的四个普通人群以及合并样本中选定亚组的呼吸系统症状与死亡率之间的关联。

方法

这项研究包括158,702人，这些人是从挪威人口登记册中随机抽取的。所有受试者均收到有关1972年至1998年间11种呼吸道症状的标准化自我管理问卷，并对死亡进行随访，直至2017年12月31日。对114,380名受访者进行了分析。

结果

死亡的危险与性别，年龄和教育程度密切相关。在这四个队列中，死亡的危险比（HR）和危险因素的95％置信区间（CI）相似。在调整了人口统计和环境因素后，呼吸困难评分3的死亡HR为1.90（95％CI 1.80–2.00），咳嗽/痰的评分5的死亡HR为1.28（1.21–1.37），发作时的HR为1.09（1.05-1.14）。与参考对象相比（无症状）的呼吸困难/喘息得分2的差异。在目前的吸烟者中，咳嗽/痰分数与死亡相关，但从未吸烟者或前吸烟者与之无关。呼吸困难评分与男性和女性的死亡有关。

结论

在45-75岁的人群中，呼吸道症状是所有病因死亡率的重要预测因子。教育和吸烟习惯仅影响咳嗽与死亡率之间的关联。协会独立于研究地点。