Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2005 Normal values for respiratory resistance using forced oscillation in subjects >65 years old1 Dept of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics, and 2 Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. CORRESPONDENCE: J-P. Janssens, Centre antituberculeux, Hôpital Cantonal Universitaire, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland. Fax: 41 223729929. E-mail: Jean-Paul.Janssens{at}hcuge.ch Keywords: Aged >65 years, aged >80 years, elderly, forced oscillation technique, normal values, respiratory resistance
Received: January 30, 2005
The aim of the present study was to determine reference values and predictive variables for respiratory impedance (Zrs) by the forced oscillation technique (FOT) in subjects aged >65 yrs. The investigation involved a prospective study of nonsmoking subjects, with normal forced expiratory volumes. The Zrs parameters, which included average resistance between 416 Hz (R416), average resistance between 430 Hz (RM), resonant frequency (FN), capacitance (C) and inertance (I), were measured along with forced expiratory manoeuvres. Every subject had each parameter measured in the same sequence using FOT and spirometry. A total of 223 subjects aged 83±8 yrs were included in the study. The mean values for forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) % predicted were 110±23. The forced vital capacity (FVC) % pred was 114±21 and the FEV1/FVC % pred was 112±11. The mean values for the Zrs parameters were: R416: 0.25±0.07 kPa·s1·L1; RM: 0.25±0.06 kPa·s1·L1; FN: 11.0±2.8 Hz; I: 1.17±0.26 Pa·L1·s2; and C: 20.5±9.0 mL·hPa1. In multiple regression models adjusted for age, sex, height and weight, height was the most influential predictor for Zrs parameters based on the magnitude of the regression coefficient. In conclusion, it was found that height was the best predictor for respiratory impedance parameters. Contribution of age and weight was negligible. However, the level of predictability for respiratory impedance parameters by regression equations was low. As both asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD) are under-diagnosed in older patients, pulmonary function tests are a necessary adjunct to clinical assessment in elderly subjects with respiratory symptoms 1, 2. Although spirometry is the gold standard for the diagnosis of obstructive lung disease, it is sometimes difficult to perform in older subjects due to reduced cooperation, fatiguability or cognitive impairment 3, 4. Indeed, feasibility of spirometry may drop to <50% in hospitalised or institutionalised elderly subjects 3, 5. Few techniques are available for testing respiratory function during tidal breathing, thus avoiding forced expiratory manoeuvres. The forced oscillation technique (FOT) is of special interest because it is noninvasive, requires minimal cooperation, takes little time and can be easily repeated, especially in children and older subjects who cannot accomplish forced expiratory manoeuvres in a reproducible manner 5, 6. In FOT, pressure oscillations are transmitted to the patient's airway during normal tidal breathing. From the resultant flow and pressure changes, the impedance (Zrs) of the respiratory system is determined 7, 8. Significant correlations between forced expiratory volumes and FOT have been reported in previous studies 5, 6. Normative data for Zrs for children and young adults have recently been summarised in a European Respiratory Society (ERS) Task Force report 9. However, no reference values for the FOT have, to date, been reported in older subjects. The aim of this study was to determine reference values for respiratory resistance measured by FOT in older, healthy subjects, and to establish which anthropometric variables were significantly predictive of Zrs parameters within this age group.
Patients This study was performed in a 304-bed intermediate-care geriatric teaching hospital, between October 2001 and April 2004. Patients were considered for the study if they had not been hospitalised because of cardiac or respiratory disorders, they had no signs or symptoms suggestive of an acute or chronic cardiac, respiratory, or neuromuscular disease, and if chest roentgenograms (performed routinely upon admission) showed no signs of parenchymal, pleural or diaphragmatic disorders. Patients were excluded if they had any cognitive and/or sensory impairment that could interfere with pulmonary function testing or if they could not assume a sitting position. Nonsmoking subjects accepting to participate in the study were referred for pulmonary function testing. They were subsequently included if they had successfully performed measurement of forced expiratory manoeuvres according to the American Thoracic Society (ATS) recommendations 10, and if the results were within the normal range according to the ERS criteria 11: forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) being >80% predicted; and FEV1/FVC being >88% pred for males and 89% pred for females. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Hospital of Geneva (Geneva, Switzerland).
Assessment of respiratory function
Measurement of forced expiratory volumes and flows
Measurement of respiratory impedance The Oscilink® software determines, for each patient, the following parameters: 1) the real part of Zrs: the average resistance between 430 Hz (RM, kPa·s1·L1), the average resistance between 416 Hz (R416, kPa·s1·L1); and 2) the imaginary part of Zrs: the FN (Hz), capacitance (C, mL·hPa1) and inertance (I, Pa·L1·s2).
Zrs measurements were performed with the Oscilink® spirometer-FOT instrument, derived from a prototype described by Carvalhaes-Neto et al. 3 according to the recent recommendations of the ERS Task Force 9. A calibration of pressure and flow was performed before each new patient. During measurements, the patients were equipped with a noseclip, seated comfortably with their head in a neutral position 14, and breathed through a mouthpiece. Both cheeks were supported by the hands of the technician 15. Care was taken to avoid flexion of the head. Patients were asked to breathe quietly at the functional residual capacity (FRC) level and avoid swallowing. A pseudo-random noise signal mixing 27 harmonics of 1 Hz between 430 Hz was generated by a loudspeaker and superimposed on the patients' spontaneous breathing. Two "Validyne" pressure transducers (DP 45±2 cmH2O; Validyne, Northridge, CA, USA) were used for Zrs measurements, one measured pressure at the mouth, the other was connected to a Hans-Rudolf pneumotachograph (4700; Hans Rudolph, Kansas City, MO, USA), which recorded mouth flow. Both signals were filtered to reject low (<3 Hz) and high frequencies and processed using a Fourier analysis. Recorded data were sampled at 128 Hz, and averaged over four consecutive breathing periods of 4 s. Particular attention was given to monitoring resting ventilation, and excluding data with irregular breathing, coughing, hyperventilation, glottis closure, swallowing, apnoea, or leaks around the mouthpiece. A minimum of 35 technically acceptable consecutive measurements were performed 9. Respiratory resistance measurements were retained for analysis if the coefficient of variation of three consecutive measurements was
Statistical analysis
During the study period, 223 nonsmoking subjects were enrolled (mean±SD (range) 83±8 (65100) yrs). A total of 180 (81%) were never-smokers. Among them, 77 (35%) were male (81±7 (range 6594) yrs), and 146 (65%) were female (84±8 (range 65100) yrs). All subjects were Caucasians. The age distribution is shown in figure 1
The average within-test variability of repeated measurements of Zrs expressed as CV were: R416: 7.6%; RM: 6.4%; FN: 5.9%; I: 8.3%; and C: 11.8%. CVs of forced expiratory manoeuvres were: FVC: 5.8%; FEV1: 5.2%; and FEV1/FVC: 4.2%.
Values by sex are reported in table 1
The average values for Rrs parameters were: R416: 0.251±0.07 kPa·s1·L1; RM: 0.254±0.06 kPa·s1·L1 and for Xrs parameters were: FN: 11.0±2.8 Hz; I: 1.17±0.26 Pa·L1·s2; C: 20.47±8.96 mL·hPa1. Rrs values were, on average, slightly lower than those reported in previous studies of younger healthy adults (fig. 2
Univariate analyses were computed to test for significant relationships between sex, age, height and weight and Xrs parameters. Significant results are shown in table 3
This study provides, to the present authors' knowledge, the only reference values available for the assessment of respiratory resistance using the FOT technique in elderly subjects. CVs given as an index of reliability (as recommended by the ERS Task Force) were within the best values reported by others (515%) 19, 20, 26, and similar to those reported for plethysmographic measurements 9, 27. Among anthropometric variables analysed, height was the best predictor for Rrs and FN, and contribution of age and weight was either nonsignificant or negligible. Rrs parameters were slightly lower than in younger subjects, and significantly higher in females, as reported in younger adults 2325. Interestingly, Rrs values computed with the regression equations provided in this study yielded lower results than predicted values extrapolated from younger subjects 2325, emphasising the necessity of establishing reference values based on healthy older individuals (table 2 FOT is a simple, noninvasive method for assessing respiratory resistance requiring only minimal cooperation from the patient. The most attractive feature of FOT is that forced oscillations are superimposed on normal tidal breathing, and, thus, FOT does not require repeated forced expiratory manoeuvres. FOT has been studied in infants, children, children with asthma or chronic nocturnal cough, intubated patients 28, patients with restrictive disorders or COPD 29 and in obstructive sleep apnoea patients 30. Highly significant correlations between results of spirometry and FOT have been reported in previous studies 3, 5, 31. The interest of FOT in older subjects has been documented in two previous studies 3, 5. Carvalhaes-Neto et al. 3, using a prototype of the FOT instrument used in this study, showed that the feasibility of spirometry was closely related to the degree of cognitive impairment, and dropped as low as 20% in hospitalised or institutionalised elderly patients, with moderate or severe cognitive impairment. In their study, feasibility of spirometry for the population tested was 40 versus 76% for FOT. In a previous study, the current authors reported similar results for patients hospitalised in a geriatric teaching hospital. Only 50% of patients tested could adequately perform spirometry versus 74% for FOT 5. In the latter study, FOT identified subjects with obstructive lung disease with a sensitivity and specificity of 76 and 78%, respectively 5. There are two other techniques for the assessment of airway resistance: body plethysmography, and the "interrupter" technique. In the current authors' experiences, body plethysmography is often difficult to perform in very old subjects, with much lower feasibility rates than spirometry. Indeed, very few studies of normal reference values for total pulmonary capacity measured by plethysmography include subjects aged >75 yrs 32. The interrupter technique is an interesting alternative. The technique is simple, the equipment is portable, measurements are also performed during quiet tidal breathing and cooperation requirements are low 33, 34. However, a recent study in children suggests a much higher CV than FOT, and a lower sensitivity and specificity than FOT for the detection of obstructive airway disease 35. In the present study, height and sex were significantly related to FOT parameters, while the contributions of age and weight were either negligible or nonsignificant. Predictability of RM, R416 and FN was rather low, with r2 values ranging 0.200.23. The ERS task Force on FOT in clinical practice recently reviewed available references for FOT for children and for younger adults 9. An overview of regression equations predictive of respiratory resistance in children aged 218 yrs showed that height was the only relevant anthropometric variable for predicting Rrs. In healthy adults aged, on average, 2658 yrs, prediction equations for average resistance included height, weight, and age. Coefficients for age and weight were, however, very low, with height being by far the most significantly predictive anthropometric variable 13, 17, 2325. Rrs was inversely related to height in most available studies 17, 23, 25. Unlike most studies in children, sex was also an important predictor of resistance, and significantly improved the strength of the predictive equations. In the present report, average values for Rrs in older females are slightly higher than for males. This is in agreement with the results of Govaerts et al. 25 and Pasker et al. 23, 24. One suggested mechanism for this difference is the sex-related difference in lung volumes. As in healthy adults (in the range of oscillation frequencies applied in this study), there is virtually no frequency dependence of resistance: RM and R416 of older subjects can be compared with values obtained in younger adults tested at similar frequencies. Values reported in the present study tend to be slightly lower than values reported in younger adults. Physiological ageing of the respiratory system is associated with minor changes in the flowvolume curves, reflecting increased airway resistance of smaller airways, thus, an increase in Rrs could have been expected 36. However, in adults, small peripheral airways contribute marginally to total airway resistance and, therefore, age-related changes in peripheral airways are not reflected by changes in Rrs. Three possible explanations for lower airway resistance (Raw) in older subjects have been suggested. First, Raw decreases when elastic recoil pressure of the lung or of the respiratory system increases (by distending the airways), and ageing is associated with a decreased compliance of the respiratory system 36, 37. Secondly, Raw decreases at larger lung volumes and ageing is associated with an increase in FRC 38, 39. Finally, an increase in inequality of ventilatory time constants with age may contribute to the relationship between age and Raw 39.
There are a few potential drawbacks to this study. The first drawback relates to the population selected as older healthy subjects. These subjects had been admitted to a geriatric intermediate-care teaching hospital, although for noncardiac or respiratory disorders. As such, pulmonary function testing could have been compromised by nutritional status, decreased muscular strength, or comorbidities. However, the nutritional status of patients included was in the normal range (table 1
The second possible limitation might be the nonexclusion of ex-smokers. Prevalence of previous smoking in a geriatric population is estimated to be 49% in the older male population, and In summary, the present study provides reference values for airway resistance by the forced oscillation technique in older subjects. In this age group, height was the best predictor of respiratory impedance parameters. Resistance and resonant frequency values were significantly higher in older females, probably because of sex-related differences in lung volumes. Conversely, resistance values tended to be lower than reported in younger subjects. Distention of the airways, because of the age-related increase in functional residual capacity and the decrease in compliance of the respiratory system, are plausible explanations for lower resistance values in this age group. Further studies are needed to explore the potential clinical contribution of forced oscillation technique in detecting and monitoring obstructive lung disease in the very old.
Predictive equations for respiratory impedance variables derived from multiple regression analysis (table 4
Residual standard deviation (RSD): 0.236
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