Association of systemic anticholinergic medication use and accelerated decrease in lung function in older adults
2024 (English)In: Scientific Reports, E-ISSN 2045-2322, Vol. 14, no 1, article id 4362
Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Older adults are frequently exposed to medicines with systemic anticholinergic properties, which are linked to increased risk of negative health outcomes. The association between systemic anticholinergics and lung function has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate if exposure to systemic anticholinergics influences lung function in older adults. Participants of the southernmost centres of the Swedish National study on Aging and Care (SNAC) were followed from 2001 to 2021. In total, 2936 subjects (2253 from Good Aging in Skåne and 683 from SNAC-B) were included. An extensive medical examination including spirometry assessments was performed during the study visits. The systemic anticholinergic burden was described using the anticholinergic cognitive burden scale. The effect of new use of systemic anticholinergics on the annual change in forced expiratory volume (FEV1s) was estimated using mixed models. During follow-up, 802 (27.3%) participants were exposed to at least one systemic anticholinergic medicine. On average, the FEV1s of participants without systemic anticholinergic exposure decreased 37.2 ml/year (95% CI [33.8; 40.6]) while participants with low and high exposure lose 47.2 ml/year (95% CI [42.4; 52.0]) and 43.7 ml/year (95% CI [25.4; 62.0]). A novel association between new use of medicines with systemic anticholinergic properties and accelerated decrease in lung function in older adults was found. The accelerated decrease is comparable to that observed in smokers. Studies are needed to further explore this potential side effect of systemic anticholinergics. © The Author(s) 2024.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Nature, 2024. Vol. 14, no 1, article id 4362
Keywords [en]
Anticholinergics, FEV, Mixed models, Spirometry, cholinergic receptor blocking agent, adult, aged, aging, Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale, article, clinical article, controlled study, drug therapy, drug use, female, follow up, forced expiratory volume, human, lung function, major clinical study, male, medical examination, side effect, smoking, special situation for pharmacovigilance
National Category
Geriatrics
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:bth-26013DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-54879-zISI: 001174529200008Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85185671899OAI: oai:DiVA.org:bth-26013DiVA, id: diva2:1842213
Projects
SNAC
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2017-01613Swedish Research Council, 2021-01437Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare2024-03-042024-03-042024-05-07Bibliographically approved