PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - HM Boezen AU - B Rijcken AU - JP Schouten AU - DS Postma TI - Breathlessness in elderly individuals is related to low lung function and reversibility of airway obstruction AID - 10.1183/09031936.98.12040805 DP - 1998 Oct 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 805--810 VI - 12 IP - 4 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/12/4/805.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/12/4/805.full SO - Eur Respir J1998 Oct 01; 12 AB - The perception of breathlessness is a subject-related factor which is linked to respiratory disease, cardiac disease and overweight. We studied the distribution of breathlessness, its association with respiratory disease, cardiac disease and overweight, as well as its association with lung function, reversibility of airway obstruction ("reversibility") and peak expiratory flow (PEF) variability in an elderly population. Data on breathlessness (rated with Borg scale), lung function, reversibility, PEF variability, respiratory symptoms, cardiac disease and overweight were collected in a random sample of 210 elderly (>55 yrs old) who participated in a physical fitness test. Individuals with a Borg score >0 were taken to have breathlessness. Subjects with a Borg score >0 (n=50, 24%) were three to five times more likely to have a low lung function and large reversibility than subjects with a Borg score of zero, independent of the presence of respiratory symptoms, cardiac disease or overweight, although these three factors were all associated with low lung function and a large reversibility and PEF variability. Reversibility was not associated with PEF variability whatsoever. In elderly individuals, breathlessness is frequently present. Assessment of breathlessness using the Borg-scale seems an important clinical measurement, because it is an important independent predictor of lung function impairment in the elderly.