Effects of selection in a prospective study of forced expiratory volume in Vermont granite workers

Am Rev Respir Dis. 1983 Oct;128(4):587-91. doi: 10.1164/arrd.1983.128.4.587.

Abstract

Granite workers lost to follow-up during a 5-yr study of pulmonary function were examined. We found that in workers who had left the industry for other employment, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) values declined at a faster rate than in those who remained employed or retired during the study period. We investigated the application of a currently recommended repeatability criterion for pulmonary function tests by looking at different patterns of failing to satisfy the criterion (PFT-failure) over multiple testing sessions. Workers with persistent PFT-failure were found to have faster rates of FEV1 decline than did subjects with none or only intermittent failures. In a regression analysis, job termination was found to be more strongly associated with a steep FEV1 slope when it had been preceded by a pattern of persistent PFT-failure.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Dust
  • Environmental Exposure
  • Epidemiologic Methods*
  • Forced Expiratory Volume*
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Lung Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Occupational Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Occupational Medicine*
  • Population Surveillance
  • Respiratory Function Tests
  • Smoking
  • Vermont

Substances

  • Dust