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Association of systemic anticholinergic medication use and accelerated decrease in lung function in older adults.

Markus Svensson1, Sölve Elmståhl2, Johan Sanmartin Berglund3

  • 1Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Jan Waldenströms Gata 35, 205 02, Malmö, Sweden. markus.svensson@med.lu.se.

Scientific Reports
|February 22, 2024
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

New use of anticholinergic medications accelerates lung function decline in older adults, a risk comparable to smoking. Further research is needed to understand this adverse effect.

Keywords:
AnticholinergicsFEVMixed modelsSpirometry

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Area of Science:

  • Gerontology
  • Pharmacology
  • Pulmonology

Background:

  • Older adults commonly use medications with systemic anticholinergic properties.
  • These drugs are associated with adverse health outcomes, but their impact on lung function is unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between systemic anticholinergic exposure and lung function decline in older adults.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study (2001-2021) of 2936 older adults from the Swedish National study on Aging and Care (SNAC).
  • Spirometry assessed lung function (forced expiratory volume - FEV1).
  • Anticholinergic burden measured using the anticholinergic cognitive burden scale; mixed models analyzed FEV1 change.

Main Results:

  • 27.3% of participants were exposed to systemic anticholinergics.
  • New users experienced accelerated FEV1 decline (47.2 ml/year) compared to non-users (37.2 ml/year).
  • This decline is comparable to that seen in smokers.

Conclusions:

  • A novel association exists between new systemic anticholinergic use and accelerated lung function decline in older adults.
  • This finding highlights a potential pulmonary side effect of these medications.
  • Further research is warranted to explore this association.