Physical activity and bronchial hyperresponsiveness: European Community Respiratory Health Survey II

Rafea Shaaban*, Bénédicte Leynaert, David Soussan, Josep M. Antó, Susan Chinn, Roberto De Marco, Judith Garcia-Aymerich, Joachim Heinrich, Christer Janson, Deborah Jarvis, Jordi Sunyer, Cecilie Svanes, Matthias Wjst, Peter G. Burney, Françoise Neukirch, Mahmoud Zureik

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

75 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Identification of the risk factors for bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) would increase the understanding of the causes of asthma. The relationship between physical activity and BHR in men and women aged 28.0-56.5 years randomly selected from 24 centres in 11 countries participating in the European Community Respiratory Health Survey II was investigated. Methods: 5158 subjects answered questionnaires about physical activity and performed BHR tests. Participants were asked about the frequency and duration of usual weekly exercise resulting in breathlessness or sweating. BHR was defined as a decrease in forced expiratory volume in 1 s of at least 20% of its post-saline value for a maximum methacholine dose of 2 mg. Results: Both frequency and duration of physical activity were inversely related to BHR. The prevalence of BHR in subjects exercising ≤ 1, 2-3 and 2 ≥4 times a week was 14.5%, 11.6% and 10.9%, respectively (p<0.001). The corresponding odds ratios were 1.00, 0.78 (95% CI 0.62 to 0.99) and 0.69 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.94) after controlling for potential confounding factors. The frequency of BHR in subjects exercising <1 h, 1-3 h and ≥4 h a week was 15.9%, 10.9% and 10.7%, respectively (p<0.001). The corresponding adjusted odds ratios were 1.00, 0.70 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.87) and 0.67 (95% CI 0.50 to 0.90). Physical activity was associated with BHR in all studied subgroups. Conclusions: These results suggest that BHR is strongly and independently associated with decreased physical activity. Further studies are needed to determine the mechanisms underlying this association.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)403-410
Number of pages8
JournalThorax
Volume62
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2007
Externally publishedYes

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