PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Beate Stubbe AU - Till Ittermann AU - Sabine Kaczmarek AU - Anne Obst AU - Martin Bahls AU - Tom Bollmann AU - Sven Gläser AU - Henry Völzke AU - Marcus Dörr AU - Ralf Ewert TI - A ten year follow-up of key gas exchange exercise parameters in a general population – Results of the Study of Health in Pomerania AID - 10.1183/23120541.00350-2020 DP - 2020 Jan 01 TA - ERJ Open Research PG - 00350-2020 4099 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/11/19/23120541.00350-2020.short 4100 - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2020/11/19/23120541.00350-2020.full AB - 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.FootnotesThis manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.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.