title: The physiological characteristics of community-dwelling elderly Japanese with airflow limitation: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological characteristics of community-dwelling elderly subjects, aged ≥65 years, with airflow limitation in the Japanese community.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were recruited through local press advertisement, and 180 individuals were enrolled. Data on age, body mass index (BMI), gender, smoking history, and past medical history were obtained, as were pulmonary function parameters, skeletal muscle mass index, and physical activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The final study population comprised 161 participants from whom we obtained valid spirometry results. The mean age of this population was 73.4 ± 4.4 years, and 78 participants (48.4 %) were men. The prevalence of airflow limitation was 29.2 % (n = 47). Subjects with airflow limitation were significantly older (P = 0.01) and had poorer pulmonary function (P < 0.01), lower BMI (P < 0.01), and lower skeletal muscle mass index (P = 0.03) than healthy elderly subjects. Furthermore, skeletal muscle mass index was significantly correlated with the percentage of predicted forced vital capacity (r = 0.45, P < 0.05) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (r = 0.50, P < 0.05) only in men with airflow limitation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the skeletal muscle mass index was significantly reduced in community-dwelling elderly with airflow limitation, and the skeletal muscle mass index was correlated with pulmonary function only in men with airflow limitation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Human Health Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 53 Kawahara-cho, Shogoin, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8507, Japan, fukutani.naoto.36x@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fukutani
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nishiguchi
authors.forename: Taiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yukutake
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kayama
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tanigawa
authors.forename: Daiki
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hotta
authors.forename: Saori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morino
authors.forename: Yuto
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.forename: Tomoki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aoyama
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsuboyama
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013147:Spirometry