Prevalence of Airway Obstruction among Young Collegiate Smokers

Background: In India, the incidence of airway obstruction varies from 9.0% to 13.7% across different geographical regions, from South India to Delhi.Smoking is one of the most common causes of airway obstruction.Smokers experience airflow limitation, which is later recognized as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a fatal and irreversible condition that causes permanent damage to the lungs.The purpose of the current study is to determine the prevalence of airway obstruction among college smokers in order to prevent lung damage in later stages of life.Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate the prevalence of airway obstruction in young collegiate smokers.Materials and methods: In this observational study, 550 young collegiate smokers in the age range of 18-35 years were recruited.Smoking habits were assessed with the Fagerstrom Test Nicotine Dependence (FND).The Vitalograph chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)-6 TM was used for the primary screening of the pulmonary function test of participants.An individual who was found with forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced expiratory volume in 6 seconds (FEV 1 /FEV 6 ) less than 70% was called for computerized spirometry to rule out pulmonary function.Results: Out of 550 individuals, 344 (62.5%) were male, and 206 (37.4%) were female, with a mean age of 22.71 3.21.Of them, 53 (10%) were found with marked limitation in expiratory flow and had airway obstruction (FEV 1 /FEV 6 <70%) reported.Out of 53, 11 with COPD were assessed with postbronchodilator spirometry. Conclusion:In the current study airway obstruction was found to be 10% prevalent, whereas 2% of them was diagnosed with COPD.