Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul 22;5(7):e007350.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-007350.

Farm environment during infancy and lung function at the age of 31: a prospective birth cohort study in Finland

Jussi Lampi  1 , Heikki Koskela  2 , Anna-Liisa Hartikainen  3 , Adaikalavan Ramasamy  4 , Alexessander Couto Alves  5 , Marjo-Riitta Järvelin  6 , Juha Pekkanen  1
Affiliations

Farm environment during infancy and lung function at the age of 31: a prospective birth cohort study in Finland

Jussi Lampi et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: Farming as an occupation is considered a risk factor for asthma and reduced lung function. By contrast, living on a farm during infancy has been reported to be associated with lower risk of asthma in adulthood. However, little is known about the association between farming environment during infancy and lung function in adulthood. We aimed to study the prospective longitudinal association between farming environment during infancy and lung function in adulthood.

Design: A prospective birth cohort study.

Setting: Northern Finland.

Participants: 5666 participants born in 1966 were followed up at the age of 31 years.

Primary outcome measures: Spirometry at the age of 31 years.

Results: To be born into a farmer's family was associated with higher forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (36 mL; 95% CI 6 to 67 mL) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (40 mL; 95% CI 5 to 75 mL) at the age of 31 years. Contact with farm animals during infancy was associated with higher FEV1. No associations were seen with FEV1/FVC (FEV1/FVC ratio). Having dogs in childhood revealed similar associations. There was a suggestive dose-dependent association with the number of animal species during childhood and higher FEV1 and FVC at adulthood, especially among women.

Conclusions: Farming environment in early life may have a positive impact on lung function in adulthood.

Keywords: EPIDEMIOLOGY; OCCUPATIONAL & INDUSTRIAL MEDICINE; RESPIRATORY MEDICINE (see Thoracic Medicine).

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. von Mutius E, Vercelli D. Farm living: effects on childhood asthma and allergy. Nat Rev Immunol 2010;10:861–8. 10.1038/nri2871 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lampi J, Canoy D, Jarvis D et al. . Farming environment and prevalence of atopy at age 31: prospective birth cohort study in Finland. Clin Exp Allergy 2011;41:987–93. 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2011.03777.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Remes ST, Iivanainen K, Koskela H et al. . Which factors explain the lower prevalence of atopy amongst farmers’ children? Clin Exp Allergy 2003;33:427–34. 10.1046/j.1365-2222.2003.01566.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Linaker C, Smedley J. Respiratory illness in agricultural workers. Occup Med (Lond) 2002;52:451–9. 10.1093/occmed/52.8.451 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bardana EJ., Jr 10. Occupational asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2008;121(2 Suppl):S408–11; quiz S421 10.1016/j.jaci.2007.08.005 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms