Association between acute mountain sickness (AMS) and age: a meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Altitude Medicine
• Environmental Health
• Physiology

Background:

• Acute mountain sickness (AMS) is a serious condition triggered by rapid ascent to high altitudes (>2500m).
• Headache is the primary symptom, with risk factors including gender, obesity, ascent rate, and age.
• Previous research suggested age as a risk factor, but recent findings are conflicting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To clarify the association between age and the risk of developing acute mountain sickness.
• To conduct a meta-analysis of existing observational studies on AMS risk factors.

Main Methods:

• Searched PubMed, Embase, CNKI, Wanfang, and CQVIP for observational studies on AMS risk factors published before March 2017.
• Included studies providing mean age, standard deviation, altitude, and ascent mode.
• Analyzed 17 studies (1810 with AMS, 3014 without) using random effects models and meta-regression for heterogeneity.

Main Results:

• The meta-analysis included 17 studies with a total of 4824 participants (age range 10-76 years).
• Analysis revealed no statistically significant association between age and the risk of acute mountain sickness (MD = 0.10; 95% CI: -0.38-0.58; P = 0.69).

Conclusions:

• Age is not a significant risk factor for acute mountain sickness.
• Race, age, and ascent mode are identified as potential sources of heterogeneity requiring further investigation in future studies.