Age-related decline in peak oxygen uptake: Cross-sectional vs. longitudinal findings. A review

Cardiorespiratory fitness is established as an important prognostic factor for cardiovascular and general health. In clinical settings cardiorespiratory fitness is often measured by cardiopulmonary exercise testing determining the gold-standard peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak). Due to the considerable impact of age and sex on VO2peak, results from cardiopulmonary exercise testing are typically assessed in the context of age-and sex-specific reference values, and multiple studies have been conducted establishing reference materials by age and sex using cross-sectional designs. However, crossectional and longitudinal studies have shown somewhat conflicting results regarding age-related declines of VO2peak, with larger declines reported in longitudinal studies. In this brief review, we compare findings from crossectional and longitudinal studies on age-related trajectories in VO2peak to highlight differences in these estimates which should be acknowledged when clinicians interpret VO2peak measurements repeated over time.

Automated summary

Cardiorespiratory fitness is an important prognostic factor for cardiovascular and general health. The gold-standard peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) is typically measured in clinical settings using cardiopulmonary exercise testing. Reference values for VO2peak have been established by age and sex, but there are conflicting results between cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on age-related declines in VO2peak. Clinicians should be aware of these differences when interpreting repeated VO2peak measurements over time.