Respiratory Findings and Urban Living

In 1962 and 1963, a cardiorespiratory examination was administered to men 40 to 64 years of age in selected occupations in telephone companies in Baltimore, New York, Washington, DC, and rural Westchester County, New York. Five to six years later, these examinations were repeated for the same groups of employees. Similar examinations were given in 1967 to the same types of employees in Tokyo. In all three surveys, respiratory abnormalities were more frequent with increasing age and with increasing numbers of cigarettes smoked per day. With due allowance for the effects of age and smoking, there were no significant associations of findings with residence at birth, previous or current home address, or present place of employment, except that men employed in New York tended to have slightly increased frequency of symptoms involving cough and phlegm.