TMSS Medical College Journal

Lung function tests have been increasingly used for diagnosis, assessment and clinical management of respiratory disorders and have become an integral part of assessment of pulmonary disease. Pulmonary function values are influenced by race, age, sex, height, weight, as well as environmental, genetic, socioeconomic and technical parameters. Overweight/obesity in children and adolescent is growing problem in developed as well as in developing countries. Whereas Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) is simple and valuable tool in assessing the lung function. The present study was carried out to measure the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in healthy secondary school going children (boys and girls) and also to find the effect of body weight on PEFR. This study was conducted on 431 apparently healthy secondary school children (185 boys. 246 girls of class nine) of seven different schools in Rangpur city. A mini Wright peak flow meter was used to measure peak expiratory flow rates. The highest of the three readings was taken as the correct value. The study was descriptive observational and cross sectional in nature with some analytical components. The relation of PEFR with sex and weight in sitting posture of children were determined by using Correlation test, Unpaired t- test and paired t-test. The mean PEFR in boys were 501.67 + 81.49 and in girls were 354.22 + 44.52 in sitting position. The amount of PEFR was increased regarding sex and weight. There was a positive correlation of PEFR values with weight of children ( n=431). The results showed that there was a very highly significant difference of PEFR values between boys and girls (p <0.001). and also a very highly significant positive correlation of PEFR values with weight for boys and girls (p<0.001). PEFR measurements could be useful for evaluation the functional status of the respiratory system and monitoring of children with astha.

The peak flow meter is a useful instrument for routine monitoring of the peak expiratory fl ow rate (PEFR) in healthy and asthmatic children. Pulmonary function tests are useful in evaluation of respiratory health of a person. These tests measure airflow rates, lung volumes and the ability of lung to transfer gases across the alveolar capillary membrane. Physiological values of pulmonary function tests vary with age, sex, height, weight, body mass index, chest circumference and smoking habit. PEFR is a good indicator of bronchial hyper responsiveness and good parameter for lung functions in obese as well as non-obese subjects. Prevalence of asthma in Indian children is found to be as high as 4.75%. Pulmonary function tests of various types are utilized clinically as well as epidemiologically to measure functional status of respiratory system. Though they do not provide a specific diagnosis, they help us to understand the severity, course and progress of the respiratory discases5 The peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) measurement is simple, reproducible and reliable way of judging the degree of airway obstruction in various obstructive pulmonary diseases, specially asthma. Peak expiratory flow rate is easily measured by using a mini-Wright’s peak flow meter (nWPFM), which is easy to use, reliable and can be recorded even by the patients or by the parents at home.® Age, sex, weight, and height are the main factors that affect PEFR. Various authors have shown that geographical, climatic, anthropometric, nutritional, and socioeconomic conditions of India are associated with regional differences in lung function. Normal value of PEFR in relation to height, age, sex and weight are present in the different countries.” The present study is carried out to find out the relation of sex and weight with peak expiratory flow values in selected age groups of children.