General population-based lung function trajectories over the life course: an accelerated cohort study

Abstract

Background: Lung function is a key determinant of health, but current knowledge on lung function growth and decline over the life course is based on fragmented, potentially biased data. We aimed to empirically derive general population-based life course lung function trajectories, and to identify breakpoints and plateaus. Methods: We created an accelerated cohort by pooling data from eight general population-based child and adult cohort studies from Europe and Australia. We included all participants with information on lung function, smoking status, BMI, and asthma diagnosis status from at least two visits. We used cross-classified three-level linear mixed models to derive sex-specific life ..