Woodsmoke exposure and risk for obstructive airways disease among women

Objective: To investigate if exposure to firewood smoke and other indoor pollutants is a potential risk factor for obstructive airways disease (OAD) among women in Bogota in whom cigarette smoking and other known risk factors may not be the most frequent. Design and setting: We conducted a hospital-based case-control study to identify risk factors for OAD among women in Bogota. An interview was conducted using a modified questionnaire recommended by the American Thoracic Society for epidemiologic studies. Patients: We compared 104 OAD cases with 104 controls matched by hospital and frequency matched by age. Analysis: The odds ratio (OR) was used as the basic statistic to evaluate risk. Multivariate analysis (MA) was conducted by the Mantel-Haenszel procedure and by logistic regression. Main results: Univariate analysis showed that tobacco use (OR=2.22; p<0.01),wood use for cooking (OR=3.43; p<0.001), passive smoking (OR=2.05; p=0.01), and gasoline use for cooking (OR=0.52; p=0.02) were associated with OAD. Trends for years of tobacco use and years of wood cooking were present (p<0.05). After MA, variables remained significant except gasoline use. Conclusions: This study showed that among elderly women of low socioeconomic status in Bogota, wood-smoke exposure is associated with the development of OAD and may help explain around 50% of all OAD cases. The role of passive smoking remains to be clarified. This work may set the basis for interventional studies in similar settings.