The Relationship Between Anthropometric Variables and Lung Function in a Severe Smoking Community Population With Ventilatory Dysfunction

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe World Health Organization estimated that 65 million individuals have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, large numbers remain undiagnosed. Anthropometric variables and lung function are closely related, such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist‐to‐height ratio (WHtR). Therefore, it is essential to explore the relationship between anthropometric variables and lung function.MethodsWe recruited 7679 severe smokers. Severe smoking was defined as a smoking index ≥ 20 pack‐years. Among these participants, there are 6214 severe smokers with mild, moderate, and moderately severe obstructive ventilation dysfunction and 1465 severe smokers with severe and very severe obstructive ventilation dysfunction. Otherwise, participants were divided into different groups according to questionnaires and sex.ResultsLung function in the severe smoking community population was associated with anthropometric variables. The study results showed that BMI was negatively associated with the risk of severe and very severe obstructive ventilation dysfunction in a severe smoking community population with ventilatory dysfunction (OR 0.791, 95% CI 0.691–0.907, p = 0.001), the COPD Population Screener (COPD‐PS) scores ≥ 5 group (OR 0.787, 95% CI 0.688–0.902, p = 0.001), the COPD Screening Questionnaire (COPD‐SQ) scores ≥ 16 group (OR 0.791, 95% CI 0.689–0.908, p = 0.001), the COPD‐PS scores ≥ 5 and COPD‐SQ scores ≥ 16 group (OR 0.730, 95% CI 0.603–0.884, p = 0.001) and the male group (OR 0.813, 95% CI 0.708–0.933, p = 0.003). The study showed that WC was also associated with obstructive ventilation dysfunction.ConclusionLow BMI and WC were independent risk factors for severe and very severe obstructive ventilation dysfunction in the severe smoking community Chinese population with ventilatory dysfunction. Collecting COPD questionnaires may help manage lung function in the community population.