Pulmonary functions and respiratory symptoms and diseases among adult Israelis. Variations by country of origin

A study group of 1,299 adult Israelis aged 30 to 65 years was chosen from persons referred for evaluation of possible pulmonary diseases in two outpatient chest clinics. They were interviewed using the ATS-NHLI (American Thoracic Society-National Heart and Lung Institute) health questionnaire and underwent the pulmonary function test (PFT), which included the following parameters: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1st sec (FEV₁), FEV₁/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), FEF₅₀ and FEF₂₅ (forced expiratory flow at 50 and 25% of FVC, respectively). The effect of the country of origin of the subjects on the distribution of respiratory symptoms, pulmonary diseases and PFT was analyzed. The lowest PFT values and an excess of reported respiratory symptoms and chronic obstructive airways diseases - especially asthma - among subjects and their parents were found among immigrants from Iraq-Iran. In immigrants from Morocco, reported respiratory symptoms, pulmonary diseases and impaired PFT were relatively uncommon. The different distribution of reported respiratory symptoms, pulmonary diseases and impaired PFT by country of origin could not be explained by environmental factors, such as smoking habits and socioeconomic background. The high prevalence of reported asthma among immigrants from Iraq-Iran is most probably due to a genetic factor.