Feasibility of body plethysmography in a population based cohort study - The Hamburg City Health Study (HCHS)

<bold>Background:</bold> Body plethysmography provides information about lung volumes and airway resistance. Both of which are important for the phenotyping of patients with COPD, for example, and may be helpful to identity patients with pre-COPD. However, the comprehensive use of body plethysmography in population based cohort studies is rare, which was the aim of this study. <bold>Methods:</bold> The HCHS is an ongoing, prospective, long-term, population-based cohort study to identify several important risk and prognostic factors in major chronic diseases. A random sample of 45,000 participants, 45-74 years, from the general population of Hamburg, Germany, are taking part. Participants undergo various examinations primarily targeting major organ system function and structures. Lung function was measured by spirometry and body plethysmography according to current guidelines. The quality control of spirometry was based on the ATS/ERS criteria, among other criteria. The quality control of the specific airway resistance (sRAW) and lung volumes such as the functional residual capacity (FRC) derived by body plethysmography was performed separately. <bold>Results:</bold> From the first 15,000 subjects, mean age 61.4 (+/- 8.66) and 49.8 % men, spirometry was performed in 10,740 subjects with a total of 42,231 trials. Of those, 26,814 trials were ranked as good or acceptable. Body plethysmography was performed in 10,556 subjects. A value for sRAW is available for n=10,319. The quality control is currently being finalized and further results will be available for the congress. <bold>Conclusion:</bold> The use of body plethysmography is feasible in a population based cohort study and may help to identify patients with pre-COPD.