Exposure to Biomass Smoke and Chronic Airway Disease in Mexican Women. A Case-Control Study

A case-control study was performed in women older than 40 yr of age to evaluate the risk of cooking with traditional wood stoves for chronic bronchitis and chronic airway obstruction (CAO). The subjects were recruited from patients attending a referral chest hospital in Mexico City. We selected 127 patients with chronic bronchitis or CAO, of which 63 had chronic bronchitis alone, 23 had CAO alone (FEV1 less than 75% of predicted), and 41 had both chronic bronchitis and CAO (cases). Four control groups were selected: 83 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, 100 patients with interstitial lung diseases, 97 patients with ear, nose and throat ailments, and 95 healthy visitors to the hospital (controls). Exposure to wood smoke, assessed as any or…