Table 1

Overview of the study population (n=19 709)

Cohort of origin	Year of examinations	No of men	No of women	Age at examinations	No of hospital admissions†
*The MONICA project is an international study conducted by the World Health Organisation to monitor trends in, and determinants of, mortality from cardiovascular disease. †Participants with a register diagnosis of COPD before enrolment (n=149) were excluded.
CCHS	1976/83	4775	6212	20–93	850
GPS, 1897 cohort	1967/77	84	112	70–80	246
GPS, 1914 cohort	1964/74	331	284	50–60	12
GPS, 1936 cohort	1976/81	456	500	40–45	63
MONICA I*	1981/88	1499	1453	30–65	22
CMS	1970/76	4003	–	39–65	67
Total	1964–88	11148	8561	20–93	1260