What is the impact of different spirometric criteria on the prevalence of spirometrically defined COPD and its comorbidities? Results from the population-based KORA study

Stefan Karrasch,1–3 Irene Brüske,1 Maia P Smith,1 Barbara Thorand,4 Cornelia Huth,4,5 Karl-Heinz Ladwig,4 Florian Kronenberg,6 Joachim Heinrich,1,7 Rolf Holle,8 Annette Peters,4 Holger Schulz1,7 1Institute of Epidemiology I, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, 2Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 3Institute of General Practice, University Hospital Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München, Munich, 4Institute of Epidemiology II, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, 5German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD), Munich/Neuherberg, Germany; 6Division of Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Medical Genetics, Molecular and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria; 7Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich (CPC-M), Member of the German Center for Lung Research, 8Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Management, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany Background: There is an ongoing debate about the appropriate spirometric criterion for airway obstruction to detect COPD. Furthermore, the association of different criteria with comorbidity prevalence and inflammatory biomarkers in advanced age is unclear.Materials and methods: Spirometry was performed in a population-based study (n=2,256) covering an age range of 41–90 years. COPD was spirometrically determined either by a fixed ratio (FR) of