Abstract
Background Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a frequently used method for the evaluation of the cardiorespiratory system. The prognostic relevance of the measured parameters is commonly known. Longitudinal data on cardiorespiratory fitness in a large sample of well characterised healthy volunteers are rare in literature.
Methods CPET data of 615 healthy individuals who voluntarily took part in the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) at three times were analysed. The median observation time was 10.5 years. The age range was 25 to 85 years.
Results Over the observed timeframe and with rising age a decline in maximum power, oxygen uptake and oxygen uptake at the anaerobic threshold was detectable. This decline was aggravated with rising age. For the VÉ/VCO2 slope an increase in individuals older than 50 years was measured only.
Conclusion The present study affirms the decrease in aerobic capacity with increasing age in a selected, well characterised, healthy study sample, that seems to be less pronounced in women.
Footnotes
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Conflict of interest:
Conflict of interest:
Conflict of interest: Dr. Kaczmarek has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Obst has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Bahls has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Bollmann has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Gläser reports personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, grants and personal fees from Novartis Pharma, personal fees from Roche Pharma, personal fees from Berlin Chemie, personal fees from PneumRX, personal fees from PulmonX, personal fees from Actelion Pharma, personal fees from Bayer Heatlthcare, outside the submitted work;.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Völzke has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Dörr has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Ewert has nothing to disclose.
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- Received June 4, 2020.
- Accepted November 13, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020
This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.
