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Preterm birth, bronchopulmonary dysplasia associated with reduced exercise capacity in adulthood

Adults who were born prematurely and have bronchopulmonary dysplasia had significantly greater reductions in exercise-induced expiratory flow limitations compared with control participants, according to study results.

Andrew T. Lovering, PhD, of the department of human physiology at the University of Oregon, and colleagues collected data from 2009 to 2014 on 55 participants aged 18 to 31 years. They sought to determine if adult survivors of preterm birth with and without bronchopulmonary dysplasia with reduced exercise capacity demonstrated respiratory limitations at near-maximal exercise compared with full-term controls.

Andrew T. Lovering

Preterm births were classified as occurring at or before 32 weeks’ gestation. Participants were either preterm and had bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD; n = 20), preterm and did not have BPD (n = 15) or age- and-height matched healthy controls (n = 20) born at more than 37 weeks.

Pulmonary tests were conducted, and participants exercised at 25%, 50%, 75% and 90% of the power output attained at peak VO₂ to get submaximal through near-maximal measurements in all participant groups.

No controls developed expiratory flow limitations until exercise at 75% of peak VO₂. Participants born preterm without BPD did not experience any expiratory flow limitations until exercise at 25% of peak VO₂. Participants born prematurely and with BPD, however, experienced expiratory flow limitations while at rest and exercise at 25% of peak VO₂.

“Adults born very or extremely preterm have respiratory limitations to exercise similar to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,” Lovering and colleagues wrote.

The researchers wrote the days a child born prematurely spends receiving oxygen therapy are linked to the degree of expiratory flow limitations later in life. In fact, they wrote, 50 days of neonatal oxygen therapy was related to all but one participant having more than 50% expiratory flow limitations as an adult.

Lovering said further research is warranted to determine better therapies for adult survivors of premature birth.

“We need to better understand how we can help them maximize their quality of life and lung health as they age,” he said in a press release.

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.