%0 Journal Article %A Andrew Robson %A Alastair Innes %T Effect of patient age on response to nebulised salbutamol or ipratropium bromide %D 2012 %J European Respiratory Journal %P P1137 %V 40 %N Suppl 56 %X In order to investigate the effects of a patient's age on their response to nebulised bronchodilators we have carried out a retrospective analysis of our clinical results database. Inclusion criteria for the study were: Age >20 at time of measurement and the presence of airflow obstruction (FEV1/VC ratio below the lower limit of normal) at baseline measurements. Patients were excluded from the analysis if they were hospital inpatients at the time of measurement, or if they were on oral steroid treatment. After baseline spirometry had been measured, patients received either 2.5mg of salbutamol (SALB) or 0.25mg ipratropium bromide (IPB) via a nebuliser. Spirometry measurements were repeated at 20 minutes (SALB) or 60 minutes (IPB) post administration of bronchodilator. A patient was considered to have shown a positive response to a bronchodilator of there was an increase in FEV1 >200ml above baseline which was also an increase of >12%. Patients were divided into four age groups, shown below. A total of 11560 patients fulfilled the entry criteria. Of these, 3799 (33%) showed a positive response to a bronchodilator (Table 1).View this table:Table 1. Change in FEV1 expressed as a percentage of the patient's predicted FEVThere were no statistically signifferent differences between responses to SALB or IPB in any age group. These results demonstrate that increasing patient age does not diminish the magnitude of a patient's response to nebulised SALB or IPB. %U https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/erj/40/Suppl_56/P1137.full.pdf