J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Jun;29(6):825-830. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.6.825.

Prevalence of Chronic Sputum and Associated Factors in Korean Adults

• Lee BR
• Kim YI
• Kim S
• Lee HS
• Yoon SH
• Yu JY
• Ban HJ
• Kwon YS
• Oh IJ
• Kim KS
• Kim YC
• Lim SC

• KMID: 1796946
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.6.825

Abstract

Chronic sputum is a troublesome symptom in many respiratory diseases. The prevalence of chronic sputum varies from 1.2% to 13% according to the country. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of chronic sputum and to find its associated factors in a general Korean population. We analyzed the data of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010 and 2011. A total number of 6,783 subjects aged 40 yr or more were enrolled in this study with 3,002 men and 3,781 women. As a result, the prevalence of chronic sputum was 6.3% (n=430). Significant risk factors for chronic sputum by multivariate analysis were: age (> or =70 yr) (odds ratio [OR], 1.954; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.308-2.917), current smoking (OR, 4.496; 95% CI, 3.001-6.734), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (OR, 1.483; 95% CI, 1.090-2.018), and tuberculosis (OR, 1.959; 95% CI, 1.307-2.938). In conclusion, the prevalence of chronic sputum in Korea was in the intermediate range compared with other countries. Smoking is a preventable risk factor identified in this study, and major respiratory diseases, such as COPD and tuberculosis, should be considered in subjects with chronic sputum.

Keyword

Chronic Sputum; Prevalence; Associated Factor

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Chronic Disease
Demography
Female
Humans
Logistic Models
Lung/physiopathology
Male
Middle Aged
Odds Ratio
Prevalence
Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/*epidemiology/physiopathology
Questionnaires
Republic of Korea
Risk Factors
Smoking
*Sputum/microbiology
Tuberculosis/*epidemiology/physiopathology

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Selection of the subjects included in this study.

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