PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - W. John Watkins
AU  - Sarah Kotecha
AU  - John Henderson
AU  - Sailesh Kotecha
TI  - The influence of parameters at birth and in early childhood on lung function in adolescence
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 4906
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/4906.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/4906.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - IntroductionThe extent to which measurable factors at birth and/or during early childhood influence lung function in adolescence remains uncertain. Furthermore, it is not entirely clear what factors influence “tracking” of lung function during growth.AimsWe sought to quantify if lung function at 14-17 years of age is associated with measurable factors at birth and 8-9 years of age.MethodsData for 2444 Caucasian, term-born, singleton, live births from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) was used to model raw lung function variables (FEV1, FVC and FEF25-75) at 14-17. We built several regression models to include relevant information including birth-weight, gestation; height and weight at 8-9 years and at 14-17 years of age.ResultsFor FEV1 at 14-17 years, 26% of the model variance was explained by measurements at birth – primarily gender and birth-weight. Adding height, weight and FEV1 values at 8-9 years improved this association with FEV1 at 14-17 years of age to 49%. When measurements available at 14-17 were added, the variance improved to 57%. For FVC at 14-17, the respective figures at birth, 8-9 and 14-17 were 30%, 52% and 59% and for FEF25-75 were 8%, 38% and 42%. Unsurprisingly, lung function values at 8-9 years had the greatest association with lung function at 14-17 years of age. The final model featured lung function and growth measures at 8-9 and 14-17. Birth-weight did not feature as it is correlated with growth at later stages.ConclusionsLung function at 14-17 years of age is marginally associated with birth weight but strongly related to lung and growth parameters at 8 years thus supporting the concept of tracking of lung function.