Abstract
Objective: Reduced pulmonary function (PFT), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and diabetes (DM) are associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk; it is unclear if the risk of PFT is similar across these conditions. We compared the impact of reduced PFT on CVD event risk in persons with MetS, DM or neither condition.
Method: We examined 4289 adults aged 65-98 (61.3% female, 15% African American, 11.2 years mean follow up time) without prior CVD from the Cardiovascular Health Study with forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and CVD risk factors measured at baseline. Cox regression examined whether PFT was associated with risk of new coronary heart disease (CHD) and CVD events in all disease categories.
Results: Hazard ratios (HR) for CHD and CVD events compared persons in the 4th (Q4) vs. 1st quartile of FEV1 and FVC, and continuously (per SD). The inverse association of FEV1 and FVC with CVD and CHD events was strongest in those with neither condition, but weaker in those with DM and MetS. Results were similar for continuous analyses except both FVC and FEV1 also significantly predicted CVD events in those with MetS.
Conclusion: Reduced lung function is less strongly associated with incident CHD and CVD in persons with MetS and DM.
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