Tucson Epidemiology Study of Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases

BACKGROUND:

The Tucson Epidemiology Study of Chronic Obstructive Lung Diseases had been supported by the Specialized Center of Research (SCOR) mechanism since 1971. The SCOR mechanism was instituted to advance basic knowledge and to generate the most effective techniques and methods of clinical management and prevention.

In 1970, the chronic obstructive lung diseases (COLD) of bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma were the tenth leading cause of death in the United States. At that time United States mortality from emphysema had been increasing at the rate of 20-25 percent per year. In 1969 the death rate for COLD as a whole was 15.6 per 100,000 and that rate was considered to be only about one-half of all those deaths in which COLD was either an underlying or an important contributory cause. By 1986 COLD had risen to be the fifth leading cause of death in the United States with a death rate of 31.3 per 100,000.

By 1972 many prevalence surveys had been conducted in the United States and abroad on specific subgroups of populations. At that time, most longitudinal studies were limited in the scope of examinations conducted, dealt with restricted age groups, and conducted few studies of familial concordance of diseases. The Tucson study was designed to include a wide age span, family units, and a variety of features relating to reversible or irreversible obstructive lung disease.

Studies have provided evidence relating acute lower respiratory tract illnesses in the first few years of life to the development of chronic lung disease in later life. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that geographic areas with high morbidity and mortality rates due to chronic obstructive lung disease among adults are also likely to show a high incidence of respiratory illness among children. A number of risk factors may be associated with lower respiratory tract illness in children. Some studies suggested that familial or genetic factors may predispose certain children to respiratory disorders early in life. Family size, viral and bacterial infections, allergic reaction, air pollution, gas stoves, formaldehyde, and passive smoking have all been implicated. Research was needed on the interrelationships of potential risk factors and lower respiratory tract infections in producing chronic respiratory disease.