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. 2011 Sep;33(3):385-92.
doi: 10.1007/s11357-010-9189-x. Epub 2010 Sep 29.

Association of lung function with physical, mental and cognitive function in early old age

Archana Singh-Manoux  1 , Aline Dugravot, Francine Kauffmann, Alexis Elbaz, Joel Ankri, Hermann Nabi, Mika Kivimaki, Séverine Sabia
Affiliations

Association of lung function with physical, mental and cognitive function in early old age

Archana Singh-Manoux et al. Age (Dordr). 2011 Sep.

Abstract

Lung function predicts mortality; whether it is associated with functional status in the general population remains unclear. This study examined the association of lung function with multiple measures of functioning in early old age. Data are drawn from the Whitehall II study; data on lung function (forced expiratory volume in 1 s, height FEV(1)), walking speed (2.44 m), cognitive function (memory and reasoning) and self-reported physical and mental functioning (SF-36) were available on 4,443 individuals, aged 50-74 years. In models adjusted for age, 1 standard deviation (SD) higher height-adjusted FEV(1) was associated with greater walking speed (beta=0.16, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.19), memory (beta=0.09, 95% CI: 0.06, 0.12), reasoning (beta=0.16, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.19) and self-reported physical functioning (beta=0.13, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.16). Socio-demographic measures, health behaviours (smoking, alcohol, physical activity, fruit/vegetable consumption), body mass index (BMI) and chronic conditions explained two-thirds of the association with walking speed and self-assessed physical functioning and over 80% of the association with cognitive function. Our results suggest that lung function is a good 'summary' measure of overall functioning in early old age.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Association* of a standard deviation increase in age with lung, cognitive, physical and mental functioning
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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