Spirometric Reference Equations for Elderly Chinese in Jinan Aged 60-84 Years.

Area of Science:

• Pulmonary Medicine
• Respiratory Physiology
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Spirometry interpretation relies on reference values, often underrepresenting older adults.
• Existing predictive values may not accurately reflect lung function in elderly Chinese populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop new spirometric reference equations for Chinese individuals aged 60-84 in Jinan.
• To compare these new equations with previously established reference values.

Main Methods:

• Spirometry was performed on 434 healthy, never-smoking individuals (60-84 years) in Jinan.
• Key spirometry parameters including vital capacity (VC), forced vital capacity (FVC), and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were analyzed.
• Reference equations for mean and lower limit of normal (LLN) were derived using the lambda-mu-sigma method.

Main Results:

• New spirometric reference equations were established for the elderly Jinan Chinese population.
• The lower limit of normal (LLN) for FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75% using 2012-GLI and 2006-Hong Kong equations were lower than the new equations.
• The 1990-North China and 2009-North China equations predicted higher mean values for FEV1/FVC and FEF25-75% compared to the new model.

Conclusions:

• The newly developed spirometric reference equations are suitable for elderly Chinese in Jinan.
• The 2012-GLI and 2006-Hong Kong equations may lead to underdiagnosis of obstructive ventilatory defects and small airway dysfunction.
• Traditional linear equations may result in overdiagnosis of lung function abnormalities.