Relationship of pulmonary dysfunction to respiratory infection. A study of New York City office workers

Pulmonary function tests were administered to 1,573 male and female office workers 30 years of age or older during their annual periodic health examinations. The frequency of respiratory infections was established from the workers' medical records. Fourteen percent had pulmonary function abnormalities; the men and women were equally abnormal. A comparison of the frequency of respiratory infections in subjects with normal and abnormal pulmonary function, matched according to age, sex and smoking history, showed no significant differences. Two subsequent years of retesting produced similar data for pulmonary function as well as for the occurrence of respiratory infections.