Adults born at very low birth weight show significantly reduced exercise capacity
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Among adults born at very low birth weight, exercise capacity was significantly reduced compared with those who were term born, according to findings published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
“Reduced exercise capacity and altered cardiorespiratory response to exercise might be expected in very low birth weight or very preterm subjects,” Jun Yang, respiratory physiologist in the Respiratory Physiology Laboratory at Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand, and colleagues wrote. “However, population-based data are limited and conflicting.”
Yang and colleagues conducted a population-based study that included 228 survivors of very low birth weight at age 26 to 30 years and 100 controls and collected data from cardiopulmonary exercise tests among 202 survivors of very low birth weight (mean age, 28.3 years; 55% women) and 93 controls (mean age, 28.2 years; 60% women). All participants underwent lung function tests, cardiopulmonary exercise testing and resting cardiac structure and function using echocardiography assessment.
Researchers observed a reduction of 9.3% in oxygen uptake, 10.7% in work rate and 10.8% in oxygen pulse at peak exercise and earlier anaerobic threshold (P < .0001) among adults with very low birth weight.
Adults with very low birth weight had a reduction in physical activity, impaired lung function, altered left ventricular structure and function, and reduced right atrial and ventricular size.
Most exercise group differences were explained after adjusting for the combination of physical activity with BMI, lung function and cardiac structure and function, the researchers wrote. Lung function and cardiac structure and function contributed equally beyond the effects of physical activity and BMI, according to the researchers.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and other prematurity-related perinatal factors, including ventilation, antenatal steroids, extremely low birth weight and extreme preterm, were not associated with reduced exercise capacity in this population.
“Our data highlight the importance of regular physical exercise, ongoing monitoring of cardiopulmonary function and fitness in survivors of very low birth weight,” the researchers wrote. “Further follow-up studies are essential to establish how this reduced exercise capacity contributes to increased morbidity and mortality independent of traditional risk factors as this growing very low birth weight population ages.”