Predicting the response of the lung function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease under the influence of climate-technogenic factors

Introduction. Lung function plays an important role in the adaptation to environmental conditions. Therefore, the study of the processes of influence of climatic and technogenic factors on the human respiratory organs is an urgent problem of our time.

Aim. To predict the dynamics of lung function indicators in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) under the influence of changes in the qualitative state of the climatic and technogenic environment of Vladivostok.

Materials and methods. 177 people were examined: of them 45 patients with mild COPD, 50 with moderate COPD, 45 with severe COPD, 37 healthy volunteers were included in the control group. The study of the lung function was carried out by the spirometry. For the analysis, we used regression models that assess the activity and intensity of the compensatory and pathogenic response of the lung function indicators to the impact of 28 climatic and technogenic factors of the urban environment.

Results. As a result of calculations, R_func (at p<0.05) was selected for the impact of 11 trigger factors of the environment. The search for the optimal multiple regression model (R_regr=0.69; F=7.1; p=0.001), which characterized the response of the indicator Y_i (FEV₁) to the action of X_i (“road density”) and X₂ (“air temperature“), was carried out. Substitution of the values X_i, X₂ made it possible to form a nomogram of the calculated data (Y_i).

Conclusion. The difference in the response of lung function to the technogenic and climatic environment made it possible to assess the impact of external factors from the standpoint of its pathogenicity and sanogenic power. According to the obtained regression model, it was found that in Vladivostok, the most favorable external loads are observed at temperatures >5ºC (FEV₁>80%), however, at the maximum “road density”, the indicator falls (FEV₁≤60%). The resulting nomogram makes it possible to predict the dynamics of the FEV₁ in the patients with COPD living in different environmental conditions, depending on the change in air temperature. Timely implementation of medical and preventive measures will reduce the risk of COPD progression in an urban environment.

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