Association of Forced Expiratory Volume in 0.5s With All-Cause Mortality Risk in Adults

Previous studies have proposed forced expiratory volume in 0.5s (FEV_0.5) to determine health outcomes in infants and young children, but few studies exist in adults. This study aims to investigate the associations between FEV_0.5 and all-cause mortality in adults.

Participants were enrolled from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1988-1994 [NHANES III] and 2007-2012 cycles). Participants aged≥20 years, not pregnant with qualifying prebronchodilator FEV_0.5 data, acceptable spirometry, complete body measurements, and follow-up data for mortality were included. The association between FEV_0.5 and all-cause mortality risk was evaluated by multivariable Cox regression. Restricted cubic spline analysis was used to evaluate the non-linear relationship between FEV_0.5 and all-cause mortality. Subgroup analyses were conducted with stratification by sex, age, body mass index, smoking status, and race.

Overall, 25,357 individuals were included, with a median follow-up of 308 months. The mean±standard deviation age was 46.1±7.2 years, and the mean prebronchodilator FEV_0.5 was 2412±699mL. A reduction in FEV_0.5 was associated with an increased all-cause mortality risk. A non-linear relationship was observed between FEV_0.5 and all-cause mortality risk. The results were maintained in subgroups analyses.

FEV_0.5 was inversely associated with all-cause mortality risk in adults, indicating its potential for monitoring respiratory health.