Interpreting longitudinal spirometry: Weight gain and other factors affecting the recognition of excessive FEV1 decline
✍ Scribed by Mei Lin Wang; Bipin H. Avashia; Edward L. Petsonk
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2009
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 111 KB
- Volume
- 52
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-3586
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Background
Excessive FEV~1~ loss in an individual or a group can reflect hazardous exposures and development of lung disease. However, multiple factors may affect FEV~1~ measurements.
Methods
Using medical screening data collected in 1884 chemical plant workers between 1973 and 2003, the influence of multiple factors on repeated measurements of FEV~1~ was examined.
Results
The FEV~1~ level was associated with age, height, race, sex, cigarette smoking, changes in body weight, and spirometer model. After controlling for these factors, longitudinal FEV~1~ decline averaged 23.8 ml/year for white males; an additional loss of 8.3 ml was associated with one pack‐year smoking and 5.4 ml with a one pound weight gain. Depending on the spirometer model, FEV~1~ differed by up to 95 ml.
Conclusions
The study results provide quantitative estimates of the effect of specific factors on FEV~1~, and should be useful to health professionals in the evaluation of accelerated lung function declines. Am. J. Ind. Med. 52:782–789, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.