Department of Geriatrics, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Chin Med J (Engl). 2012 Sep;125(17):3064-8.
The respiratory system changes with age and a better understanding of the changes contribute to detect and prevent respiratory dysfunctions in old population. The purpose of this study was to observe age-associated changes of pulmonary function parameters in healthy young adults and the elderly.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 600 male and female subjects aged 19 to 92 years. The subjects were divided into three groups by age: young adult (19 - 39 years), middle-aged adult (40 - 59 years), and the elderly (≥ 60 years). The pulmonary function was measured with routine examination methods and 13 parameters including vital capacity (VC), residual volume (RV), functional residual capacity (FRC), total lung capacity (TLC), RV/TLC, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV(1)), FEV(1)/FVC, peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow at 25% of FVC exhaled (FEF(25)), forced expiratory flow at 50% of FVC exhaled (FEF(50)), diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (D(L)CO), and specific diffusion capacity of CO (KCO) were collected and analyzed. Changes in pulmonary function parameters among the pre-elderly and elderly subjects, especially the aging influence on FEV(1)/FVC and RV were studied further.
Ten pulmonary function parameters including VC, FVC, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC, PEF, FEF(25), FEF(50), TLC, D(L)CO and KCO decreased significantly with age in both male and female subjects (P < 0.01). RV and RV/TLC were increased with age (P < 0.01). FRC remained stable during aging. Except FRC, the linear relationship was significant between age and other pulmonary function parameters. In the pre-elderly and elderly subjects, RV had a non-significantly increasing tendency with age (P > 0.05), and FEV(1)/FVC did not change significantly with age (P > 0.05).
Total pulmonary function was declined with advancing age, but FRC was stable, and the increasing tendency of RV and decreasing tendency of FEV(1)/FVC obviously slowed down in the pre-elderly and elderly subjects.
呼吸系统会随着年龄的增长而发生变化，更好地了解这些变化有助于发现和预防老年人群的呼吸系统功能障碍。本研究的目的是观察健康年轻成年人和老年人的肺功能参数与年龄相关的变化。
本研究采用横断面研究设计，共纳入了 600 名年龄在 19 至 92 岁的男性和女性受试者。根据年龄将受试者分为三组：年轻成年人组（19-39 岁）、中年成年人组（40-59 岁）和老年人组（≥60 岁）。使用常规检查方法测量肺功能，共收集了包括肺活量（VC）、残气量（RV）、功能残气量（FRC）、肺总量（TLC）、RV/TLC、用力肺活量（FVC）、一秒用力呼气容积（FEV1）、FEV1/FVC、呼气峰流速（PEF）、用力呼出 25%肺活量时的流速（FEF25）、用力呼出 50%肺活量时的流速（FEF50）、一氧化碳弥散量（D（L）CO）和 CO 特异性弥散量（KCO）在内的 13 个参数，并进行了分析。进一步研究了中老年受试者肺功能参数的变化，特别是 FEV1/FVC 和 RV 的老化影响。
在男性和女性受试者中，VC、FVC、FEV1、FEV1/FVC、PEF、FEF25、FEF50、TLC、D（L）CO 和 KCO 等 10 个肺功能参数均随年龄的增长而显著下降（P<0.01）。RV 和 RV/TLC 随年龄增长而增加（P<0.01）。FRC 在整个衰老过程中保持稳定。除 FRC 外，其他肺功能参数与年龄之间呈显著线性关系。在中老年受试者中，RV 随年龄呈非显著增加趋势（P>0.05），FEV1/FVC 随年龄无明显变化（P>0.05）。
随着年龄的增长，总肺功能逐渐下降，但 FRC 保持稳定，中老年受试者 RV 的增加趋势和 FEV1/FVC 的下降趋势明显放缓。
