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BACKGROUND: The water disinfection of swimming pools through chlorination method causes unwanted changes such as chlorine-containing byproducts within the air, which might affect the swimming pool workers' respiratory health. The present study is aimed to determine the frequency of respiratory symptoms and spirometry abnormalities among the workers of indoor swimming pools (instructors and lifeguards). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present case–control study was conducted on forty individuals working in indoor swimming pools and forty others working at chlorine-exposure-free jobs as the control group. A questionnaire, including demographic information, smoking information, respiratory symptoms, and years of employment in the swimming pool, was completed for every participant. All the personnel, as well as the participants in the control group, underwent pulmonary examinations and spirometry tests. Then, the obtained data were analyzed using the SPSS 16 software as well as the statistical tests, including t-test, Chi-square test, correlation coefficient, and regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants in the case and control groups was 32.3 and 32.5 years, respectively. Both the case and control groups consisted of 18 males (45%) and 22 females (55%). Among the respiratory symptoms, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, sneeze, throat irritation, and chest tightness were significantly higher in the case group than that of the control group (15%, 80%, 35%, 57.5% and 72.5% vs. 0%, 40%, 12.5%, 2.5% and 27.5%, respectively). The pulmonary examinations indicated a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the prevalence of wheeze and rhonchi (P = 0.014 and 0.006, respectively). Moreover, showing a statistically significant difference, the forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s/FVC indicators were lower in the case group than the control group (P = 0.04 and 0.016). CONCLUSION: Regarding the findings, there was a direct relationship between working in indoor swimming pools and the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary dysfunction.

BACKGROUND: Decreasing hospitalization as a result of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations is a major objective in an effective process of the disease management. This study aimed to investigate the association between physical activity level in COPD patients, and specific-cause hospitalization in a prospective study of patients referred to a pulmonologist office in Qazvin, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study was conducted among 150 patients with COPD from the population of Qazvin, a North West, industrialized city of Iran, from December 2017 to December 2018. Participants were enrolled among patients who referred to an outpatient respiratory care center to undertake respiratory function tests. Patients were followed up for 1 year and their related measures were gathered and recorded at two phases including baseline and 12 months. To assess the effect of several covariates on the response variable, a multivariate regression analysis was applied. Results were reported in the form of odds ratios, incident rate ratio (IRR), and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: The study findings revealed that individuals with severe pulmonary obstruction (