Table 1

 Characteristics of patients according to spirometry-defined COPD grade

Total sample(N = 8215)No COPD(N = 7122)COPD(N = 1093)COPD grade
Mild(N = 455)Moderate(N = 480)Severe or very severe(N = 158)
***p<0.001, **p<0.01, *p<0.02.
†Adjusted for age.
‡Excluding non-smokers.
¶Adjusted for age, sex and deprivation level.
§Adjusted for age and sex.
a,b,cDifferent letters indicate significant group differences (p<0.02).
Demographic data
    Mean (SD) age55.5 (13.5)54.4 (13.2)62.5 (13.4)***60.2 (14.2)a63.0 (13.0)a67.2 (10.8)b
    % (N) male46.4 (3808)44.7 (3185)57.0 (623)***50.8 (231)a61.9 (297)b60.1 (95)a,b
    % (N) manual occupation44.6 (3664)43.6 (3105)51.1 (559)***44.6 (203)a55.6 (267)b56.3 (89)b
    Mean (SD) deprivation score†1.1 (1.2)1.1 (1.1)1.3 (1.2)***1.2 (1.2)a1.7 (1.2)b1.8 (1.2)b
Smoking characteristics
% (N) smoking prevalence
        Age 36–4430.4 (654)29.6 (599)43.3 (55)**45.5 (35)a40.0 (18)a40.0 (2)a
        Age 45–5428.8 (610)26.7 (511)47.8 (99)***37.5 (39)a57.3 (51)b64.3 (9)a,b
        Age 55–6422.0 (379)19.1 (281)40.0 (98)***26.5 (26)a47.2 (50)b53.7 (22)b
        Age 65+15.1 (335)12.0 (205)25.3 (130)***19.3 (34)a27.1 (65)a,b31.6 (31)b
        All ages
         Current24.1 (1978)22.4 (1596)34.9 (382)***29.5 (134)a38.3 (184)b40.5 (64)b
         Ever55.1 (4529)52.8 (3758)70.5 (771)***60.4 (275)a75.8 (364)b83.5 (132)b
Mean (SD) cigarettes/day‡15.1 (9.5)14.8 (9.2)16.3 (10.4)*16.3 (9.2)a17.1 (11.6)a13.9 (8.5)a
Mean (SD) saliva cotinine (ng/ml)‡286 (177)278 (177)322 (173)***306 (171)a336 (169)a318 (192)a
Mean (SD) dependence rating¶3.7 (1.0)3.6 (1.0)3.9 (1.0)***3.9 (1.0)a3.8 (0.9)a3.6 (1.0)a
% (N) motivated to quit§68.9 (1200)68.0 (955)70.8 (239)65.2 (76)a77.3 (126)a61.8 (37)a
Respiratory diagnosis
    % (N) chronic bronchitis/emphysema1.1 (89)0.7 (52)3.4 (37)***0.4 (2)a3.3 (16)b12.0 (19)c
    % (N) asthma5.6 (456)4.5 (319)12.5 (137)***5.1 (23)a14.0 (67)b29.7 (47)c
    % (N) undefined2.0 (164)1.7 (123)3.8 (41)***0.9 (4)a5.0 (24)b8.2 (13)b
    % (N) any8.2 (671)6.5 (466)18.8 (205)***6.4 (29)a21.3 (102)b46.8 (74)c