Some occupational and environmental exposures could increase the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and hypertension in various work and living environments. However, the effect of exposure to multiple exogenous harmful substances on COPD and hypertension co-morbidities remains unclear.
Participants were selected from eight hospitals in five provinces in China using a multistage cluster sampling procedure. Participants' demographic, exposure, and disease information were collected through questionnaires, spirometry, and blood pressure examinations. Demographic data were used as matching factors, and 1:1 matching between the exposed and non-exposed groups was performed by employing propensity score matching (PSM) to minimize the influence on the results. A one-way chi-squared analysis and multifactorial logistic regression were used to analyze the association between the exposure to exogenous harmful substances (metals and their compound dust, inorganic mineral dust, organic chemicals, and livestock by-products) and the co-morbidity of COPD and hypertension.
There were 6,610 eligible participants in the final analysis, of whom 2,045 (30.9%) were exposed to exogenous harmful substances. The prevalence of co-morbidities of COPD and hypertension (6.0%) in the exposure group was higher than their prevalence in the total population (4.6%). After PSM, exogenous harmful substance exposure was found to be a risk factor for the co-morbidity of COPD and hypertension [odds ratio (OR) = 1.347, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.011–1.794], which was not statistically significant before PSM (OR = 1.094, 95% CI: 0.852–1.405). Meanwhile, the results of different outcomes showed that the association between hypertension and exogenous harmful substance exposure was not statistically significant (OR = 0.965, 95% CI: 0.846–1.101). Smoking (OR = 4.702, 95% CI: 3.321–6.656), history of a respiratory disease during childhood (OR = 2.830, 95% CI: 1.600–5.006), and history of respiratory symptoms (OR = 1.897, 95% CI: 1.331–2.704) were also identified as risk factors for the co-morbidity of COPD and hypertension.
The distribution of exogenous harmful substance exposure varies in the population, and the prevalence of co-morbidities is generally higher in susceptible populations. Exposure to exogenous harmful substances was found to be a key risk factor after adjusting for demographic confounders.