Lung function and exercise capacity in prematurely born young people.

Abstract

To determine if lung function abnormalities in young people born very prematurely routinely exposed to antenatal corticosteroids and postnatal surfactant were associated with reduced exercise capacity. In the current era, lung function abnormalities would not be associated with exercise intolerance STUDY DESIGN: Follow-up of young people from the United Kingdom Oscillation study (UKOS). One hundred twenty-six young people of 797 recruited to UKOS, born at a mean gestational age of 27 weeks were assessed at a mean age of 17 years. Forced expiratory flow at 75% of the expired vital capacity (FEF75 ), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1 ) and lung volumes (forced vital capacity [FVC]) and residual volume (RV) and functional residual capacity (FRCpleth ) were assessed. Abnormal lung function was below the fifth centile and very abnormal lung function below the 2.5th centile. Exercise capacity was assessed using a modified shuttle sprint test and self-reported hours of exercise. Thirty-nine young people had an abnormal FEF75 with an adjusted reduction in sprint distance of 114 m (P = .018) and an adjusted difference in self-reported exercise of 0.73 hours (P = .036). Twenty-seven young people had a very abnormal FEF75 with an adjusted reduction in sprint distance of 159 m (P = .002) and adjusted reduction in self-reported exercise of 1.15 hours (P = .002). Very prematurely born young people with abnormal airway function had a significant reduction in exercise capacity.