An epidemiological study of pulmonary function tests in geriatric population of central India

We have studied Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) namely Vital Capacity (VC). Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), and Forced Expiratory Volume in First Second (FEV1). Forced Expiratory Flow(FEF 25-50%) in 1200 elderly subjects above 60 years of age of which 570 were females and 630 males. Mean age was 69.22 +/- 5.57 years in males and 68.77 +/- 5.44 in females. The mean value of ventilatory parameters were as follows-1) VC 2.99 +/- 0.5 lt in males and 1.89 +/- 0.29 lt in females. 2) FVC 2.69 +/- 0.58 lt. in males and 1.76 +/- 0.21 lt in females. 3) FEV1/FVC% 83.82 +/- 10.62% in males and 83.37 +/- 11.93% in females. 4) FEF 25-75% was 2.81 +/- 1.20 lt/sec in males and 2.13 +/- 1.27 lt/sec. Physical as well as ventilatory parameters were less in females than for males. The correlation of age with VC and FEV1 was highly significant (P < 0.01) but with FVC was not significant (P > 0.05). The correlation of height, weight and body surface area was not significant with any ventilatory parameter (P > 0.05). Multiple regression equations for VC, FVC and FEV1 were formulated for males and females taking height and age as variables. The predicted values correlated excellently with observed values.