São Paulo (n=1000)

Santiago (n=1208)

Mexico City (n=1063)

Montevideo (n=943)

Caracas (n=1357)

p*

Sex

0.0001

Men

442 (44.2%)

465 (38.5%)

431 (40.5%)

380 (40.3%)

474 (34.9%)

Women

558 (55.8%)

743 (61.5%)

632 (59.5%)

563 (59.7%)

883 (65.1%)

Age (years)†

55.2 (11.3)

57.0 (12.0)

55.9 (11.9)

60.3 (12.7)

55.1 (11.2)

0.0001

0.0001

40–49

390 (39.0%)

407 (33.7%)

420 (39.5%)

248 (26.3%)

523 (40.4%)

50–59

320 (32.0%)

380 (31.5%)

300 (28.2%)

247 (26.2%)

378 (29.2%)

≥60

289 (28.9%)

421 (34.8%)

343 (32.3%)

448 (47.5%)

393 (30.4%)

Ethnic origin

0.0001

White

575 (57.5%)

838 (69.5%)

272 (25.7%)

845 (89.6%)

482 (35.5%)

Mixed

276 (27.6%)

295 (24.5%)

555 (52.5%)

56 (5.9%)

707 (52.1%)

Black

104 (10.4%)

12 (1.0%)

35 (3.3%)

20 (2.1%)

152 (11.2%)

Indians

23 (2.3%)

52 (4.3%)

184 (17.4%)

9 (1.0%)

9 (0.7%)

Asians

22 (2.2%)

9 (0.7%)

12 (1.1%)

4 (0.4%)

5 (0.4%)

Education in years†

5.87 (4.87)

9.25 (4.64)

7.06 (4.97)

7.88 (4.47)

7.36 (4.26)

0.0001

0.0001

0–2

233 (23.4%)

87 (7.2%)

204 (19.2%)

62 (6.6%)

147 (10.8%)

3–4

308 (30.9%)

119 (9.9%)

124 (11.7%)

146 (15.5%)

161 (11.9%)

5–8

226 (22.7%)

361 (29.9%)

349 (32.8%)

365 (38.9%)

581 (42.8%)

≥9

230 (23.1%)

641 (53.1%)

385 (36.2%)

366 (39.0%)

468 (34.5%)

Body mass index (kg/m2)†

27.3 (5.56)

28.5 (5.03)

28.8 (5.04)

28.5 (7.95)

27.4 (5.10)

0.0001

0.0001

<25

372 (37.3%)

299 (24.9%)

219 (21.0%)

281 (29.9%)

426 (31.4%)

25–29.9

371 (37.2%)

514 (42.9%)

465 (44.5%)

342 (36.3%)

587 (43.3%)

≥30

253 (25.4%)

386 (32.2%)

360 (34.5%)

318 (33.8%)

343 (25.3%)

Smoking status

0.0001

Never smoker

429 (42.9%)

402 (33.3%)

591 (55.8%)

405 (43.0%)

572 (42.6%)

Former smoker

330 (33.0%)

341 (28.3%)

202 (19.1%)

273 (29.0%)

397 (29.6%)

Current smoker

240 (24.0%)

465 (38.6%)

270 (25.5%)

264 (28.0%)

387 (28.8%)

Smoking exposure (pack-years)†

11.9 (18.8)

9.42 (15.0)

5.14 (12.3)

15.9 (25.2)

10.8 (19.8)

0.0001

0.0001

0–9.9

636 (64.0%)

815 (67.6%)

887 (83.8%)

552 (58.6%)

911 (67.8%)

10–19.9

128 (12.9%)

200 (16.6%)

90 (8.5%)

108 (11.5%)

186 (13.8%)

≥20

229 (23.1%)

191 (15.8%)

82 (7.7%)

282 (29.9%)

246 (18.3%)

Hospital admission due to pulmonary problems in childhood

29 (2.9%)

8 (0.8%)

21 (2.2%)

25 (1.8%)

0.001

Indoor exposure to coal for cooking or heating

150 (15.0%)

652 (54.1%)

206 (19.4%)

130 (13.8%)

131 (9.7%)

0.0001

Indoor exposure to biomass for cooking or heating

490 (49.1%)

651 (53.9%)

397 (37.5%)

532 (56.5%)

397 (29.3%)

0.0001

Exposure to dust at the workplace

0.0001

Never

428 (43.0%)

610 (50.5%)

593 (55.9%)

405 (43.0%)

804 (59.3%)

<10 years

238 (23.9%)

272 (22.5%)

209 (19.7%)

174 (18.5%)

283 (20.9%)

≥10 years

330 (33.1%)

326 (27.0%)

259 (24.4%)

364 (38.6%)

269 (19.8%)

Pulmonary function

FEV 1†

2.68 (0.79)

2.70 (0.78)

2.59 (0.74)

2.63 (0.82)

2.55 (0.71)

0.0001

FEV 1 % of predicted†

95.4 (19.4)

99.4 (18.4)

98.2 (16.7)

96.5 (19.3)

93.7 (18.8)

FVC†

3.44 (0.95)

3.52 (0.97)

3.23 (0.89)

3.43 (1.02)

3.24 (0.84)

0.0001

FVC % of predicted†

96.8 (18.5)

103.5 (16.0)

97.1 (15.3)

99.4 (16.6)

93.8 (16.3)

FEV 1/FVC†

0.78 (0.09)

0.77 (0.09)

0.80 (0.07)

0.77 (0.09)

0.78 (0.08)

0.0001

FEV 1/FVC % of predicted†

98.6 (12.0)

95.6 (10.5)

100.8 (8.9)

96.6 (11.4)

99.5 (10.6)