Browsing by Author "Knöpfli, Bruno"
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- PublicationFollow-up of the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA 2) 1991–2003: methods and characterization of participants(Birkhäuser, 2005) Ackermann-Liebrich, Ursula; Kuna-Dibbert, Birgit; Probst-Hensch, Nicole M.; Schindler, Christian; Dietrich, Denise Felber; Stutz, Elisabeth Zemp; Bayer-Oglesby, Lucy; Baum, Felix; Brändli, Otto; Brutsche, Martin; Downs, Sara H.; Keidel, Dirk; Gerbase, Margaret W.; Imboden, Medea; Keller, Roland; Knöpfli, Bruno; Künzli, Nino; Nicod, Laurent; Pons, Marco; Staedele, Patricia; Tschopp, Jean-Marie; Zellweger, Jean-Pierre; Leuenberger, Philippe [in: Sozial- und Präventivmedizin]Objectives: The Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung Diseases in Adults (SAPALDIA) was designed to investigate the health effects from long-term exposure to air pollution. Methods: The health assessment at recruitment (1991) and at the first reassessment (2001-3) consisted of an interview about respiratory health, occupational and other exposures, spirometry, a methacholine bronchial challenge test, end-expiratory carbon monoxide (CO) measurement and measurement for atopy. A bio bank for DNA and blood markers was established. Heart rate variability was measured using a 24-hour ECG (Holter) in a random sample of participants aged 50 years and older. Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3) and particulates in ambient air have been monitored in all study areas since 1991. Residential histories collected over the 11 year follow-up period coupled with GIS modelling will provide individual long-term air pollutant exposure estimates. Results: Of 9651 participants examined in 1991, 8715 could be traced for the cohort study and 283 died. Basic information about health status was obtained for 8047 individuals (86% of alive persons), 6 528 individuals (70%) agreed to the health examination and 5 973 subjects (62%) completed the entire protocol. Non-participants in the reassessment were on average younger than participants and more likely to have been smokers and to have reported respiratory symptoms in the first assessment. Average weight had increased by 5.5 kg in 11 years and 28% of smokers in 1991 had quit by the time of the reassessment.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
- PublicationImprovements in PM10 Exposure and Reduced Rates of Respiratory Symptoms in a Cohort of Swiss Adults (SAPALDIA)(American Thoracic Society, 2009) Schindler, Christian; Keidel, Dirk; Gerbase, Margaret W.; Zemp, Elisabeth; Bettschart, Robert; Brändli, Otto; Brutsche, Martin H.; Burdet, Luc; Karrer, Werner; Knöpfli, Bruno; Pons, Marco; Rapp, Regula; Bayer-Oglesby, Lucy; Künzli, Nino; Schwartz, Joel; Liu, Lee-Jane S.; Ackermann-Liebrich, Ursula; Rochat, Thierry [in: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine]Rationale: Reductions in mortality following improvements in air quality were documented by several studies, and our group found, in an earlier analysis, that decreasing particulate levels attenuate lung function decline in adults. Objectives: We investigated whether decreases in particulates with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 10 microm (PM10) were associated with lower rates of reporting respiratory symptoms (i.e., decreased morbidity) on follow-up. Methods: The present analysis includes 7,019 subjects who underwent detailed baseline examinations in 1991 and a follow-up interview in 2002. Each subject was assigned model-based estimates of average PM10 during the 12 months preceding each health assessment and the difference was used as the exposure variable of interest (DeltaPM10). Analyses were stratified by symptom status at baseline and associations between DeltaPM10 and change in symptom status during follow-up were adjusted for important baseline characteristics, smoking status at follow-up, and season. We then estimated adjusted odds ratios for symptoms at follow-up and numbers of symptomatic cases prevented due to the observed reductions in PM10. Measurements and main results: Residential exposure to PM10 was lower in 2002 than in 1991 (mean decline 6.2 microg/m3; SD = 3.9 microg/m3). Estimated benefits (per 10,000 persons) attributable to the observed changes in PM10-levels were: 259 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 102-416) fewer subjects with regular cough, 179 (95% CI, 30-328) fewer subjects with chronic cough or phlegm and 137 (95% CI, 9-266) fewer subjects with wheezing and breathlessness. Conclusions: Reductions in particle levels in Switzerland over the 11-year follow-up period had a beneficial effect on respiratory symptoms among adults.01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift