Association of respiratory symptoms with body mass index and occupational exposure comparing sexes and subjects with and without asthma: follow-up of a Norwegian population study (the Telemark study).

Increased BMI and exposure to VGDF were associated with increased respiratory burden scores. The change due to increased BMI was not affected by sex, but subjects with asthma had a significantly larger change than those without. Increased frequency of VGDF exposure was associated with increased respiratory burden score but without statistically significant differences with respect to sex or asthma status.