Thirty-Year Cumulative Incidence of Chronic Bronchitis and COPD in Relation to 30-Year Pulmonary Function and 40-Year Mortality

The lifetime risk of chronic bronchitis among smokers is approximately two in five, and almost one half of smokers who have chronic bronchitis also acquire COPD. Chronic bronchitis is related to earlier death, also in never-smokers, probably partly through a rapid decline in pulmonary function.