Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Socioeconomic status is associated with reduced lung function in China: an analysis from a large cross-sectional study in Shanghai.

Authors: Gaffney, Adam W; Hang, Jing-qing; Lee, Mi-Sun; Su, Li; Zhang, Feng-ying; Christiani, David C

Published In BMC Public Health, (2016 Feb 01)

Abstract: An inverse association between socioeconomic status and pulmonary function has emerged in many studies. However, the mediating factors in this relationship are poorly understood, and might be expected to differ between countries. We sought to investigate the relationship between socioeconomic status and lung function in China, a rapidly industrializing nation with unique environmental challenges, and to identify potentially-modifiable environmental mediators.We used data from the Shanghai Putuo Study, a cross-sectional study performed in Shanghai, China. Participants completed a questionnaire and spirometry. The primary exposure was socioeconomic status, determined by education level. The primary outcomes were FEV1 and FVC percent predicted. Multiple linear regressions were used to test this association, and the percent explained by behavioral, environmental, occupational, and dietary variables was determined by adding these variables to a base model.The study population consisted of a total of 22,878 study subjects that were 53.3 % female and had a mean age of 48. In the final multivariate analysis, the effect estimates for FEV1 and FVC percent predicted for low socioeconomic status (compared to high) were statistically significant at a p-value of <0.01. Smoking, biomass exposure, mode of transportation to work, a diet low in fruits or vegetables, and occupational category partially attenuated the relationship between SES and lung function. In a fully-adjusted age-stratified analysis, the socioeconomic disparity in lung function widened with increasing age.We found cross-sectional evidence of socioeconomic disparities in pulmonary function in Shanghai. These differences increased with age and were partially explained by potentially modifiable exposures.

PubMed ID: 26832923 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication

Back
to Top