BackgroundThe association between impaired lung function and diabetes risk has been established in the past, however the temporal and causal relationships between the two remain unclear. We assessed the relationship between baseline FEV1 and FVC and risk of incident diabetes at different time intervals for participants in the Malmö Preventive Project cohort.MethodsBaseline lung function was assessed in 20,295 men and 7416 women during 1974–1992; mean age 43.4 ± 6.6 and 47.6 ± 7.8, respectively. Sex-specific quartiles of FEV1%predicted and FVC%predicted were created (Q4 = highest; reference). Follow-up time was divided into 10-year time intervals from baseline examination. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess the incidence of diabetes according to quartiles of FEV1 and FVC%predicted, after adjustments for baseline glucose and potential confounding factors.ResultsOver 37-years’ follow-up there were 3753 and 993 incident diabetes events in men and women, respectively. When comparing FEV1%predicted in men (Q1 vs. Q4), the HR for diabetes was 1.64 (1.21–2.22) for events <10 years after baseline, 1.52 (1.27–1.81) for events 10–20 years after baseline, 1.39 (1.22–1.59) for events 20–30 years after baseline, and 1.46 (1.08–1.97) for events occurring >30 years after baseline. A broadly similar pattern was seen for FVC%predicted and for women.ConclusionsLow FEV1 precedes and significantly predicts future diabetes. This risk is still significant many years after the baseline FEV1 measurement in middle-aged men. These results suggest that there is a relationship between impaired lung function and diabetes risk beyond the effects of hyperglycemia on lung function.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12890-016-0227-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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The use of baseline lung function in the prediction of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) hospitalisations, all-cause mortality and lung function decline was assessed in the population-based "Men Born in 1914" cohort.Spirometry was assessed at age 55 years in 689 subjects, of whom 392 had spirometry reassessed at age 68 years. The cohort was divided into three groups using fixed ratio (FR) and lower limit of normal (LLN) LLN− group should be carefully evaluated in clinical practice in relation to future risks and potential benefit from early intervention. This is reinforced by the increased FEV1 decline in this group. @ERSpublications Life-time risk of COPD hospitalisations is strongly related to FEV1/VC <70% and