Risk factors for chronic respiratory diseases in middle age: 36-year follow-up of the Tasmanian Asthma Study

该项目将提高我们对成人慢性呼吸道疾病（CRDs）病因的认识。慢性阻塞性肺病显然是一个重大的公共卫生问题，但没有关于这些疾病的自然史和危险因素的良好数据。从童年到成年的定期随访是检查这些因素的最佳方法，但由于进行长期研究的困难，缺乏此类数据。塔斯马尼亚哮喘研究（TAS）基于1961年出生的8,585名塔斯马尼亚人（即先证），是世界上最重要的此类信息资源之一。先证者及其父母（16267人）和兄弟姐妹（21044人）于1968年首次接受呼吸道疾病调查。随后，在13岁（1974年）、20岁（1981年）和31岁（1992年）对先证者的总样本或子样本进行了三次随访调查。1992年，对先证者的子女和配偶也进行了调查。在所有随访中收集了所有呼吸问题的信息，尽管到目前为止，TAS的主要重点是哮喘。先证者现在已经到了所有CRD作为一个群体开始造成越来越大的疾病负担的年龄，这种负担将在未来20年变得更大。因此，TAS现在提供了一个理想的机会，利用迄今收集的数据和43岁时收集的新数据来检查CRDs的潜在风险因素和自然病史。此外，它将为未来研究该队列中crd的进展提供一个平台。因此，我们建议对该队列进行36年的随访，重点关注crd。这将为未来预防慢性呼吸道疾病和残疾提供重要信息，这不仅在澳大利亚而且在国际上都将是原创和重要的。

This project will improve our understanding of the causes of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) in adults. CRDs are clearly a major public health problem, but there are no good data on the natural history and risk factors for these diseases. Regular follow-up through childhood to adulthood is the best method to examine these factors, but such data is lacking due to difficulties in conducting long-term studies. The Tasmanian Asthma Study (TAS), based on 8,585 Tasmanians (i.e. probands) born in 1961, is one of the worlds most important resources of such information. The probands, their parents (16,267) and siblings (21,044) were first investigated for respiratory problems in 1968. Subsequently, three follow-up surveys were carried out at ages 13 (1974), 20 (1981) and 31 (1992) on either the total or sub-samples of the probands. In 1992, the children and spouses of the probands were also surveyed. Information on all respiratory problems was collected in all the follow-ups, although the main focus of the TAS to date has been asthma. The probands are now reaching the age at which all CRD as a group are beginning to inflict an increasing disease burden, which will become greater in the next two decades. Hence, TAS now provides an ideal opportunity to examine the potential risk factors and natural history of and of CRDs using data collected to date and new data collected at age 43. Also, it will provide a platform for future studies to investigate the progression of CRDs in this cohort. Hence, we propose to carry out the 36 year follow-up of this cohort focusing on CRDs. This will provide important information for preventing chronic respiratory morbidity and disability in the future, which will be original and significant not only in Australia but also internationally.