Lung development in early life and respiratory diagnosis and treatment

More than 17 per cent of deaths around the world can be attributed to respiratory disorders. In the UK more than 12 million people have a diagnosis of lung disease which costs the NHS nearly £10 billion a year.

People who experience problems with lung function in childhood may be more likely to develop respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders in adulthood. Previous work suggests that the following predict poor lung function in later life:

• smoking
• low birthweight
• a genetic tendency towards allergic diseases
• self-reported childhood asthma
• respiratory infections

We know little about what conditions people at risk of early lung disease are diagnosed with and what treatment they receive.

Project aims

This project aims to explore the link between information held by GPs and hospitals about respiratory health conditions and lung function development among participants of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) study. ALSPAC is a large and detailed study that has been following its participants from birth, regularly since the 90s.

We will use data from spirometry assessments performed when study participants were 8, 15 and 24 years old. A spirometry is a test that measures how well lungs function by assessing how much and how quickly someone can inhale and exhale air.

We will link the spirometry data with medical records held by GPs and hospitals. This will help us assess how often respiratory diseases developed among participants with varying levels of lung function in childhood (persistently high, average, below average and persistently low) and how they were managed in later years.

What we hope to achieve

Identifying how often participants with poorer lung function development are diagnosed and treated for respiratory diseases will help us understand whether optimising potential interventions (e.g., inhalers) may improve how these diseases develop over time.