Socio-environmental factors and lung function.

The literature was reviewed to assess whether the evidence implicating socio-environmental (SE) factors as determinants of adult lung function was sufficient to require that they be taken into account in epidemiological studies, together with other factors, such as age and smoking. In six studies involving 11,000 adults resident in the USA, France and Denmark forced expiratory volume in 1 second was related to social class and/or one of a number of other factors including education, area of residence and housing status. Trends in three other studies involving approximately 15,000 children resident in the UK and the USA were similar. The consistency of the findings makes it difficult to escape the conclusion that SE factors should be taken into account in comparisons of lung function between populations when the purpose is to assess the role of other environmental factors such as occupational exposure.