ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Allergy
Sec. Asthma
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/falgy.2025.1614899
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Allergy Diagnostics and Management: A Global PerspectiveView all 6 articles
The chronological age at which small airway function starts to decline in a healthy Chinese population: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
Lili Hou1
Yonglu Guo1Yurong Zhang1Ningfang Lian2Ying Gong3Bairong Du1Yuanyuan Liu1Zhenghua Zhu1Jichen Qu1Xian Zhu1Lei Zhu4*- 1Shanghai First People's Hospital, Shanghai, China
- 2Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, Fujian Province, China
- 3Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
- 4Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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Background: Small airway function naturally declines with aging. However, the precise age this decline begins in healthy Chinese individuals remains unclear. This study aimed to identify the chronological age when small airway dysfunction (SAD) initiates and its predictors within a healthy Chinese population.We conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional, multicenter analysis of 462 adults undergoing routine health checkups. Participants underwent standard spirometry and completed questionnaires. The onset age of SAD was determined using the area under receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs). Univariate and multivariate analyses identified relationships between variables and SAD.Results: Healthy individuals aged 55 years or older demonstrated SAD. Age was an important independent predictor for SAD (odds ratio, 1.107; P < 0.001). The AUC of age for predicting SAD was 0.771 (95% CI: 0.730-0.808), which significantly increased to 0.790 (95% CI: 0.750-0.826; P = 0.0347) after adjusting for covariates (body mass index and sex).We identified SAD predictors in a healthy Chinese population with environmental exposure. An age of 55 years or older was the threshold for predicting SAD in these healthy participants.
Keywords: Aging, Small airway, small airway dysfunction, Spirometry, the area under receiver operating characteristic curves
Received: 20 Apr 2025; Accepted: 19 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hou, Guo, Zhang, Lian, Gong, Du, Liu, Zhu, Qu, Zhu and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lei Zhu, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
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