Abstract
India is in a phase of demographic transition and it has acquired the label of “aging nation”, with 7.7% of its population being more than 60 yrs old. Among them, 81 % complain of increasing stress and psychosocial problems [1]. The elderly people are subjected to varying levels of insecurity and depression. A stressful lifestyle, along with environmental pollution and respiratory infections, is known to have adverse effects on the lung functions. PEFR, as a measurement of the ventilatory function, was introduced by Hadorn in 1942, and it was accepted in 1949 as an index of spirometry [2]. The peak expiratory flow emerges from the large airways within 100-102ms from the start of a forced expiration and it remains peaked for 10ms [3]. The normal peak flow is 450-550 L /min in adult males and it is 320-470 L/min in adult females. PEFR is the reflection of the functioning of the larger airways and any amount of stress/ infection/ inflammation in these airways causes adverse reactions. This study hypothesized that stress has a negative effect on the PEFR in elderly subjects.
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