Pulmonary Function: Relation to Aging, Cigarette Habit, and Mortality

The relation of pulmonary function to aging and cigarette habits has been examined cross sectionally and longitudinally in the Framingham cohort. On cross-sectional analysis, women were found to have lower forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) values than men even after adjusting for height. Their FEV1percent was, on the other hand, higher than those of men. As the population aged over 10 years, their FVC and FEV1declined 9% to 27% depending upon age and sex. The FEV1percent, however, showed a decline only in the older age groups. In a cross-sectional analysis, cigarette smoking showed an inverse association to FVC and FEV1percent. Longitudinally, cigarette smokers showed a more rapid decline in FVC in 10 years than nonsmokers. On giving up smoking their FVC became more like that of the nonsmokers. A striking relation of FVC to mortality was noted in both sexes, which is not accounted for by associated cigarette habits.