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Updated: Jul 13, 2026

Dual Test Gas Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity Measurement During Exercise in Humans Using the Single-Breath Method
Published on: February 2, 2024
At identical isowork rates, ageing influences cardiorespiratory adaptations in COPD out-patients
C Fabre1, J M Grosbois, F Bart
1Faculté des Sciences du Sport et de l'Education Physique, Laboratoire d'Etudes de la Motricité Humaine (LEMH), EA:3608, Université de Lille 2, 9 rue de l'Université, 59790 Ronchin, France. claudine.fabre@univ-lille2.fr
Purpose:
To determine the extent to which younger COPD patients improve their cardiorespiratory function during exercise in comparison with older COPD patients, as a result of exercise training.
Methods:
Thirty-nine COPD patients underwent an exercise program. They were divided into two groups: a younger group (57.2+/-1.0 years, n=18 patients) and an older group (68.8+/-0.6 years, n=21 patients). Forced expiratory volume in 1s was lower than 55% of the predicted value for all patients.
Results:
After training, VO2 symptom-limited significantly improved by 10.3% and 8.4% for the younger and older COPD patients, respectively (P<0.05). Peak power significantly improved by 25.2% and 17.8% in the younger and older groups, respectively (P<0.05) with a greater improvement for the younger group (P<0.05). At submaximal exercise, ventilation and heart rate significantly decreased after training in the younger COPD patients (P<0.05) with no significant modification in the older COPD patients.
Conclusions:
The results suggest that all patients with COPD benefit from exercise rehabilitation at maximal exercise workload, however, according to their age, submaximal cardiorespiratory adaptations were greater in younger patients.
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