The threshold for sensing airflow resistance during tidal breathing rises in old age: implications for elderly patients with obstructive airways diseases

Objective: to determine whether the ability of elderly subjects to detect a rise in airflow resistance is attenuated in old age, and to measure the magnitude and variability of such a change. Methods: we studied 124 healthy adults aged 20–86 years. Progressive external airflow resistance loading was...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Age and ageing 2009-09, Vol.38 (5), p.548-552
Main Authors: Allen, Stephen C., Vassallo, Michael, Khattab, Ahmed
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
age
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aging
Aging - physiology
Airflow
airflow resistance sensing
Airway Resistance - physiology
asthma
Breathing
Calibration
Elderly
Elderly people
Exhalation - physiology
Female
Health aspects
Humans
Inhalation - physiology
Male
Middle Aged
Older people
Proprioception
Proprioception - physiology
Reference Values
Resistance
Respiratory diseases
respiratory proprioception
Respiratory tract diseases
Sensory perception
Sensory Thresholds - physiology
Spirometry
Thresholds
Variability
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Objective: to determine whether the ability of elderly subjects to detect a rise in airflow resistance is attenuated in old age, and to measure the magnitude and variability of such a change. Methods: we studied 124 healthy adults aged 20–86 years. Progressive external airflow resistance loading was used to measure the inspiratory and expiratory load detection thresholds (LDTs) during tidal breathing at rest. Results: the mean inspiratory LDT rose from 4.00 (3.06 SD) kPa.s/L in the 20–39 age group to 6.51 (6.20) in the 40–64 age group (NS) and 29.10 (13.58) in the 65 + age group (P < 0.00001). The inspiratory LDT was significantly correlated with age, mainly due to the higher thresholds in people over the age of 65 (r = 0.7860, P < 0.00001), but did not correlate with age-corrected forced vital capacity or respiratory rate. Expiratory LDT values and correlations were very similar. Day-to-day variability in LDTs tended to be higher in older subjects. Conclusion: the threshold for detecting external resistive loads during tidal breathing rises in old age. This appears to be a consequence of ageing processes rather than pathology, and might be a manifestation of a fall in proprioceptive acuity in elderly people. This finding has clinical implications for the self-management of asthma in old age. There is a need to conduct a similar study in patients with airways disease.
ISSN:0002-0729
1468-2834
DOI:10.1093/ageing/afp110