Anne Lindberg

Umeå University | UMU · Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine

Background and Aim The relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), asthma and mortality is complex and multifaceted, and it is not established if educational level modifies the association between asthma and mortality. The aim was to study the association between asthma and mortality in Sweden and Norway and to what extent educational level mo...

Plain language summary All-cause and cause specific mortality in relation to different lung function patterns and sex; normal, obstructive and restricted lung function Chronic airway obstruction and restrictive spirometry pattern are associated with mortality, but sex specific patterns have hardly been evaluated. Aim: To study possible sex-dependen...

Background: The prevalence of asthma has increased both among children and adults during the latter half of the 20th century. The prevalence among adults is affected by the incidence of asthma in childhood but also in adulthood. Time trends in asthma incidence are poorly studied. The aim was to study the incidence of asthma among adults from 1996-2...

INTRODUCTION How e-cigarette use relates to changes in smoking status and respiratory symptoms in the population remains controversial. The aim was to study the association between e-cigarette use and, changes in smoking status and changes in respiratory symptoms. METHODS A prospective, population-based study of random samples of the population (a...

Background The prevalence and clinical profile of asthma with airflow obstruction (AO) remain uncertain. We aimed to phenotype AO in population- and clinic-based cohorts. Methods This cross-sectional multicohort study included adults ≥50 years from nine CADSET cohorts with spirometry data (N=69 789). AO was defined as ever diagnosed asthma with pr...

Rationale: Spirometry is essential for diagnosis and assessment of prognosis in COPD. Objectives: To identify FEV1 trajectories and their determinants, based on annual spirometry measurements among individuals with and without airway obstruction. Furthermore, to assess mortality in relation to trajectories. Methods: In 2002-04, individuals wit...

Objective: Adult-onset asthma is a recognized but heterogeneous phenotype and has been described to associate with poor asthma control. Knowledge about associations between clinical characteristics including comorbidities and control of adult-onset asthma is limited, especially in older populations. We aimed to study how clinical biomarkers and co...

Introduction: The prevalence of COPD tends to level off in populations with decreasing prevalence of smoking but the extent of underdiagnosis in such populations needs further investigation. Aim: To investigate underdiagnosis and misclassification of COPD with a focus on socio-economy, lifestyle determinants and healthcare utilization. Method:...

Rationale: Post-bronchodilator (BD) spirometry is used for diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, pre-BD reference values are used for spirometry interpretation. Objectives: To compare the resulting prevalence rates of abnormal spirometry and study the consequences of using pre- or post-BD reference values generated...

Objective: Asthma control is of importance when assessing the risk of severe outcomes of COVID-19. The aim of this study was to explore associations of clinical characteristics and the effect of multiple manifestations of uncontrolled asthma with severe COVID-19. Methods: In 2014-2020, adult patients with uncontrolled asthma, defined as Asthma C...

Background: Asthma and obesity are prevalent conditions that are increasing worldwide. Asthma is characterized by airway inflammation and bronchial variability, while obesity is a complex metabolic disorder that poses significant morbidity and mortality risks. Obesity is a risk factor for asthma and a plethora of other non-communicable diseases....

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered a heterogenic syndrome with systemic effects, including muscle dysfunction. There is evidence of postural control impairments among individuals with COPD, partly related to muscle weakness. However, research is scarce regarding the other underlying systems of postural control,...

Rationale: Risk stratification of patients according to COPD severity is clinically important and forms the basis of therapeutic recommendations. No studies have examined the association for GOLD group A and B patients with (A1, B1) and without (A0, B0) an exacerbation in the last year with future exacerbations, hospitalizations, and mortality in...

Background: Evidence abounds on the independent roles of social class and smoking in relation to obstructive airway diseases, but data are sparse on the impact of their interaction. We evaluated whether and to what extent social class and smoking interact in relation to risk of respiratory diseases in adults. Methods: Data from the population-ba...

Longitudinal studies are needed to increase our knowledge of the natural history of asthma in athletes. Our aims were to estimate the incidence, remission, and relapse, of self-reported asthma among endurance athletes. A postal questionnaire on self-reported physician-diagnosed asthma, asthma medication, allergy, and respiratory symptoms was sent a...

Background Over the last decade, computational sciences have contributed immensely to characterization of phenotypes of airway diseases, but it is difficult to compare derived phenotypes across studies, perhaps as a result of the different decisions that fed into these phenotyping exercises. We aim to perform a systematic review of studies using co...

Background : With increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity, it is important to study how BMI change may affect lung function among subjects with asthma. There are few prospective studies on this topic, especially with separate analyses of those with normal and high BMI. Aim : To prospectively study the association between annual BMI change...

Background Severe asthma increases the risk of severe COVID-19 outcomes such as hospitalization and death. However, more studies are needed to understand the association between asthma and severe COVID-19. Methods A cohort of 150,430 adult asthma patients were identified in the Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR) from 2013 to December 2020. Da...

Background Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is an acknowledged peri-operative risk factor that should be identified before surgery. This study aimed to evaluate a simplified echocardiographic method using e’ and E/e’ for identification and grading of diastolic dysfunction pre-operatively. Methods Ninety six ambulatory surgical patients...

Background Severe alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), phenotype PiZZ, is a risk factor for pulmonary emphysema and liver disease, but its effect on cancer risk is unknown. Our aim was to evaluate the risk and the risk factors for incident cancer in PiZZ individuals compared with the general population with known smoking habits. Methods A longit...

DNA methylation patterns in chronic pulmonary obstructive disease (COPD) might offer new insights into disease pathogenesis. To assess methylation profiles in the main COPD target organ, we performed an epigenome-wide association study on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells. Bronchoscopies were performed in 18 COPD subjects and 15 controls (ex- and...

Background: Restrictive lung function may indicate various underlying diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of different restrictive spirometry patterns (RSPs) to identify restrictive lung function (total lung capacity [TLC] < lower limit of normal [LLN]) according to reference values by the Global Lung Function Initiative (...

Low socioeconomic status based both on educational level and income has been associated with asthma and respiratory symptoms, but changes over time in these associations have rarely been studied. The aim was to study the associations between educational or income inequality and asthma and respiratory symptoms among women and men over a 20-year peri...

Approximately 500 000 individuals in Sweden have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Co-morbid, especially cardiovascular, conditions are common in COPD and globally COPD is the third most common cause of mortality. Mortality in COPD is driven by dyspnea, exacerbations and comorbidities and is reduced by smoking cessation and lung rehabil...

Background Risk factors for severe asthma are not well described. The aim was to identify clinical characteristics and risk factors at study entry that are associated with severe asthma at follow-up in a long-term prospective population-based cohort study of adults with asthma. Methods Between 1986 and 2001, 2055 adults with asthma were identified...

Background Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is an acknowledged peri-operative risk factor that should be identified before surgery. This study aimed to evaluate a simplified echocardiographic method using e’ and E/e’ for identification and grading of diastolic dysfunction pre-operatively. Methods 96 ambulatory surgical patients were con...

Background Asthma is a common disease and a major public health concern. Respiratory symptoms are related to its prognosis, which in turn associates with lung function. Still this association on a long-term basis is not entirely understood. Aim To study the association of the type and number of respiratory symptoms with FEV 1 and FEV 1 decline in...

Background: Asthma is associated with low socioeconomic status among both children and adults, and adolescents with asthma report more school absenteeism than those without. However, it is unclear whether asthma in childhood and adolescence affects socioeconomic status in adulthood. Methods: Within the Obstructive Lung disease In Northern Sweden...

Background: In 2019, WHO estimated COPD to be the third leading cause of death in the world. However, COPD is probably underestimated as cause of death due to the well-known under-diagnosis. Aim: To evaluate the proportion of and factors associated with COPD recorded as cause of death in a long-term follow-up of a population-based COPD cohort....

Background The prevalence of asthma has increased both among children and adults during the latter half of the 20th century. The prevalence among adults is affected by the incidence of asthma in childhood but also in adulthood. Time trends in asthma incidence are poorly studied. Aim The aim was to study the incidence of adult-onset asthma from 199...

Background Severe Alpha‐1‐antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), phenotype PiZZ, is associated with increased risk of liver disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is unknown. Our aim was to evaluate the risk of VTE in individuals with severe AATD compared with control subjects from the general...

Background : Hand grip strength is frequently used as a measurement of muscle strength, especially among older adults. Muscle strength is only one of the many components in postural control and it is currently unclear to what extent hand grip strength is associated with postural control. The aim was to analyze the association between hand grip stre...

Background Differences in the expression of regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been suggested to explain why some smokers develop COPD and some do not. Upregulation of Tregs in response to smoking would restrain airway inflammation and thus the development of COPD; while the absense of such upregulation would over time lead to chronic inflammation and...

Chronic airflow limitation (CAL) can be defined as fixed ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/forced vital capacity (FVC) < 0.70 after bronchodilation. It is unclear which is the most optimal ratio in relation to respiratory morbidity. The aim was to investigate to what extent different ratios of FEV1/FVC were associated with any respira...

Heat‐ and moisture exchanging breathing devices (HME) humidify and heat inhaled air and prevent exercise‐induced bronchoconstriction. HMEs have potential as primary preventers against airway damage and asthma induced by exercise in sub‐zero temperatures. HME usage among athletes has not been previously investigated. This study surveyed the usage o...

Background: Left ventricular (LV) systolic dysfunction is an acknowledged perioperative risk factor and should be identified before surgery. Conventional echocardiographic assessment of LV ejection fraction (LVEF) obtained by biplane LV volumes is the gold standard to detect LV systolic dysfunction. However, this modality needs extensive training...

Abstract Background COPD has increased in prevalence worldwide over several decades until the first decade after the millennium shift. Evidence from a few recent population studies indicate that the prevalence may be levelling or even decreasing in some areas in Europe. Since the 1970s, a substantial and ongoing decrease in smoking prevalence has b...

Background The Swedish National Airway Register (SNAR) was initiated in 2013 to ensure and improve the quality of care for patients with asthma and COPD. Aim To describe the development and design of SNAR, and to study the 2019 data to evaluate its potential utility related to improvement of quality of care. Methods SNAR includes data from patients...

Background There are few long-term clinical follow-up studies of adult onset asthma. Aim To study clinical characteristics of adult onset asthma in relation to remission and persistence of the disease in a 15-year follow-up. Methods A cohort of 309 adults aged 20–60 years with asthma onset during the last 12 months, verified by bronchial variabil...

Low socioeconomic status (SES) has been associated with asthma and wheezing. Occupational group, educational level and income are commonly used indicators for SES, but no single indicator can illustrate the entire complexity of SES. The aim was to investigate how different indicators of SES associate with current asthma, allergic and nonallergic, a...

Background: Over the last decade, computational sciences have contributed immensely to characterization of phenotypes of airway diseases, but it is difficult to compare derived phenotypes across studies, perhaps as a result of the different decisions that fed into these phenotyping exercises. We aim to perform a systematic review of studies using c...

Background: Over the last decade, computational sciences have contributed immensely to characterization of phenotypes of airway diseases, but it is difficult to compare derived phenotypes across studies, perhaps as a result of the different decisions that fed into these phenotyping exercises. We aim to perform a systematic review of studies using c...

Background The diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is based on the presence of persistent respiratory symptoms and chronic airflow limitation (CAL). CAL is based on the ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity (FEV 1 :FVC) after bronchodilation, and FEV 1 :FVC less than the fifth percentile is often used as a...

Background: Ischemic heart disease is common in COPD and associated with worse prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the presence and prognostic impact of biomarkers of myocardial injury and ischemia among individuals with COPD and normal lung function, respectively. Methods: In 2002-04, all individuals with airway obstruction (FEV1/VC < 0....

Background Severe alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is an established risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and liver disease, but the effect on the incidence of ischemic heart disease (IHD) is not well known. The aim was to evaluate the risk of incident IHD in patients with severe AATD compared with a random sample of th...