Introduction: Smoking is known as a major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this study the prevalence of smoking in the population of Mashhad city was evaluated as well as pulmonary function tests (PFTs) of smokers.
Material and methods: The prevalence of smoking was studied using a standard questionnaire. Pulmonary function tests, including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), and maximal expiratory flow at 75%, 50%, and 25% of the FVC (MEF75,50,25), were measured in all smokers.
Results: In total, 1435 individuals were interviewed including 999 males and 436 females. The number of smokers among the interviewed individuals was 183 (12.7%) including 172 male (17.2%) and 11 female (2.5%). The results showed that all values of PFTs in smokers were reduced. There were significant negative correlations between smoking duration and rate as pack/year and values of PFT (p<0.05).
Conclusions: In this study the prevalence of smoking in the population of Mashhad city was shown for the first time. The effect of smoking on PFTs showed that smoking leads to constriction of large and medium airways, which is due to duration and rate of smoking.