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Relationship between body composition and lung function in elderly men and women

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Abstract

Introduction

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between body composition parameters and lung functions including vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), FEV1:VC ratio, and FEV1:FVC ratio in elderly men and women.

Methods

The study was a cross-sectional evaluation of 99 healthy men and women (aged 60–88 years). Anthropometric and body composition parameters (including fat mass [FM], fat-free mass [FFM] and percentage body fat [%BF]) were evaluated using the skinfold method, and lung function was examined using spirometry.

Results

Data analysis showed %BF, body FM and body mass index (BMI) of women to be significantly higher than men. Also, their body FFM was significantly less than men (P<0.05). Lung volume (P<0.01) and lung capacity values (P<0.05) (VC, FVC, FEV1, FEV1:VC, FEV1:FVC) of women were significantly less than men. There was a positive significant relationship between the FFM versus FVC and FEV1 values of women and men. A negative significant relationship was demonstrated between body FM, BMI and FVC of all subjects.

Conclusion

This investigation showed that women aged between 60 and 88 years had a lower lung capacity compared to men of the same age. Older women were found to have a higher body fat ratio than men, and it was found that increasing %BF and BMI had a negative effect on lung functions in both sexes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physical Education and Sport, Selcuk University, Konya, Turkey

    Selma Karacan

  2. School of Physical Education and Sport, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey

    Nevin Atalay Güzel & Filiz Colakoglu

  3. School of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, 06100, Turkey

    Gul Baltaci

Authors
  1. Selma Karacan
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  2. Nevin Atalay Güzel
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  3. Filiz Colakoglu
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  4. Gul Baltaci
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Correspondence to Gul Baltaci.

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Karacan, S., Güzel, N.A., Colakoglu, F. et al. Relationship between body composition and lung function in elderly men and women. Adv Therapy 25, 168–178 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-008-0022-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-008-0022-1

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