Background: Ageing is accompanied with a decline in respiratory function. It is hypothesised that this may be attenuated by high physical activity levels. Methods: We performed spirometry in master athletes (71 women; 84 men; 35-86 years) and sedentary people (39 women; 45 men; 24-82 years) and calculated the predicted lung age (PLA). Results: In Figure 1 it can be seen that the negative associations of age with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) (34 mL/yr) and other ventilatory parameters were similar in controls and master athletes. FEV1pred was 9% higher (P < 0.005) and PLA 15% lower (P = 0.013) in athletes than controls. There were no significant differences between endurance and power athletes and sedentary people in maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure. Neither age graded performance nor weekly training hours were significantly related to lung age. Conclusion: Life-long exercise does not appear to attenuate the age-related decrease in ventilatory function. The better respiratory function in master athletes than age-matched sedentary people might be due to self-selection and attrition bias. Figure 1: Individual data for Forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1); — men: FEV1 = -0.034*age (yrs) + 5.54; R2 = 0.47; P < 0.001; — women: FEV1 = -0.033*age (yrs) + 4.56; R2 = 0.61; P < 0.001. Open squares: Female endurance; Open cicles: Female Power; Open triangles: Female Control; Closed squares: Male Endurance; Closed circles: Male Power and Closed traingles: Male Control participants.
The Biomedical Basis of Elite Performance (London) (2012) Proc Physiol Soc 26, PC46
Poster Communications: Relationship between ventilatory function and age in master athletes and a sedentary reference population
H. Degens1,2, T. M. Maden-Wilkinson1, A. Ireland1, M. T. Korhonen3, H. Suominen3, A. Heinonen3, Z. Radak4, J. S. McPhee1, J. Rittweger2,1
1. Institute for Biomedical Research into Human Movement and Health, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom. 2. Division Space Physiology, Institute of Aerospace Medicine, German Aerospace Center, Cologne, Germany. 3. Department of Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland. 4. Research Institute of Sport Science, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary.
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Where applicable, experiments conform with Society ethical requirements.