Approved Research

The associations of lifestyle and socioeconomic status with respiratory outcomes: a prospective cohort study

Lay summary

Socioeconomic status plays an important role in lifestyle choices and access to health services, which may have impact on the occurrence and progression of diseases. Diversities in lifestyle factors may also lead to disparities in disease outcomes. Though some studies have previously investigated the association between lifestyle factor or socioeconomic factor and respiratory disease, the majority of them focused on the impact on single factor (e.g. smoking, physical activity, education) or single outcome (e.g. prevalence or mortality of COPD). Additionally,  most of the studies were cross-sectional studies. Few were cohort studies that could better verify the association. Hence, we aim to conduct a prospective cohort study to assess the associations of multiple lifestyle and socioeconomic factors with respiratory outcomes in a more comprehensive way. The project may last for 3 years. The results of this study may shed light on socioeconomic inequality in respiratory outcomes, provide evidence for the interventions in respiratory health and raise people's awareness of keeping healthy lifestyle.