Epidemiology of chronic bronchitis in Prague.

A number of epidemiological studies in several countries have implicated cigarette smoking, occupation, age, sex and air pollution as well as other environmental factors in the epidemiology of chronic respiratory disease. This paper reports the results of a respiratory-symptom and pulmonary-function survey among a large population of men aged 50-65 years in Prague. In general, the findings of other studies have been confirmed, showing that these relationships occur in an even wider range of geographic and cultural backgrounds. In addition, the study uncovered an apparent relationship between the occurrence of respiratory symptoms and a family history of chronic bronchitis and tuberculosis, suggesting that future surveys should include studies of familial aggregations of chronic respiratory disease. Similar studies have been carried out in other parts of Czechoslovakia with different levels of air pollution for comparison with the results of this study.