One in ten children snore regularly, and new research shows that risk factors for snoring may be different in boys and girls. German and Austrian researchers distributed questionnaires to parents of 1,144 third graders and found that independent risk factors for habitual snoring (HS) include a BMI greater than or equal to the 90th percentile, low maternal education, regular daytime mouth breathing, and a higher frequency of sore throats, but the association of these factors with snoring was not the same for all children. Study results show that girls who frequently complained of sore throats were five times more likely to be at risk for HS than boys. For boys, lower maternal education was significantly linked with HS, as was household smoking of more than 10 cigarettes per day. As children became older, boys became less likely snore, while girls became more likely to snore. For both boys and girls, researchers found that obesity was significantly linked with HS, with nearly one in four obese children snoring, and children in the 90th percentile for BMI are four times more likely to be at risk for HS than those with a BMI below the 75th percentile. The study appears in the September issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
FURTHER CLASSIFICATION OF LUNG CANCER MAY BETTER PREDICT SURVIVAL
A new study suggests that further categorization of stage IA lung cancer tumors would better aid in prediction of an individual's chances of survival than the currently used classification of whether a tumor is stage IA (smaller than 3 cm) or stage IB (larger than 3 cm). Researchers in New York reviewed data from 7,620 individuals with stage I non-small cell lung cancer registered in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Registry 2003. The study shows that over 12 years, cure rates for stage IA lung cancer decreased as tumor size increased, with people who had the smallest tumors, 5 to 15 mm in diameter, having the highest cure rate at 69 percent. Those with the largest tumors, over 45 mm, had a 43% cure rate. These findings indicate that because a smaller tumor size at diagnosis is associated with greater survival, further categorizing of stage I lung cancer by size may be important. The study appears in the September issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.
MEASURING QUALITY OF LIFE FOR EMPHYSEMA PATIENTS
Generic and disease-specific quality of life (QOL) measures for patients with emphysema are correlated and may be used to predict patients' outcomes. California researchers analyzed data from 1,218 subjects registered in the National Emphysema Treatment Trial (NETT) to evaluate measures of QOL, calculated by the self-administered version of the Quality of Well-Being Scale, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form, the St. George Respiratory Questionnaire, and the University of California San Diego-Shortness of Breath Questionnaire. Self-reported scores on factors, including physical functioning, bodily pain, acute and chronic symptoms, and impact on daily life, show a modest correlation between disease-specific and general QOL measures. Study results show that patients involved were very ill and that those who had stayed overnight in a hospital within the preceding 3 months had lower QOL ratings. The results also reveal that pulmonary rehabilitation significantly improves QOL for patients with emphysema. Overall, results indicate that QOL measurements can be used to help evaluate outcomes for patients with advanced lung disease. The study appears in the September issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians.