COPD and lung restriction affect many older African adults
In a study of 1,619 adults, overall COPD prevalence reached 16.1% and lung restriction reached 21.3%, with odds for both rising with older age.
medRxiv
Adults aged 40 years and older in Burkina Faso and South Africa face substantial rates of impaired lung function, according to a new preprint. Researchers analyzed repeatable spirometry data from 1,619 participants in the AWI-Gen study across four communities. Overall, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease prevalence was 16.1%, ranging from 10.8% to 24.5% across study sites. Lung restriction prevalence was 21.3%, ranging from 11.3% to 36.2% across sites. Older age was associated with higher odds of both COPD (OR 1.05) and lung restriction (OR 1.02). Beyond age, prior tuberculosis, HIV infection, and ever-smoking were associated with higher odds of COPD, whereas diabetes was associated with lower COPD odds. Hypertension was linked to higher odds of lung restriction.
Why it matters
Respiratory decline is an important feature of physical aging that frequently co-occurs with other chronic diseases. These findings show how chronological age, cardiometabolic conditions, and infectious diseases jointly shape lung health in understudied aging populations.
Caveats
This work is a preprint that has not yet been peer-reviewed. In addition, COPD was defined using pre-bronchodilator spirometry for most participants, and the cross-sectional design cannot establish causal relationships.
The paper
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Richard J. Packer, Michèle Ramsay, Chiara Batini, Richard van Zyl-Smit, Mervyn Mer, Palwendé Romuald Boua, Godfred Agongo, Francesc Xavier Gómez-Olivé, Reneilwe Given Mashaba, Martin D. Tobin, Anna L. Guyatt,University of Leicester · South African Medical Research Council
medRxiv · 23 Sep 2026 · Preprint, not peer-reviewed