A Comparative Study of the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate of Indian and Nepalese Young Adults in a Teaching Institute

Abstract

Peak expiratory fl ow rate (PEFR) measurement is the easiest and cheapest method to evaluaterespiratory functions. So, the study was carried out to evaluate PEFR of healthy Nepalese adults andcompare their values with healthy Indian counterparts to know whether Indian prediction equationsfor PEFR can be used for Nepalese adult population or not.One hundred twenty-three healthy, young, non smoker adult Indian (64: 28 Males, 36 Females) andNepalese (59: 32 Males, 27 Females) medical students of 18 to 20 years of age participated in the study.The mean PEFR of Indian (male: 490.4 liter/min, female: 386.0 liter/min) and Nepalese (male: 485.9liter/min, Female: 365.2 liter/min) young adults were found to have no signifi cant differences.As there is no signifi cant difference in the mean PEFR of Indian and Nepalese young adults, predictionequations made for Indian adults can be used to predict PEFR of Nepalese subjects. Therefore, anattempt has been made to formulate a regression equation from the combined Indian and Nepalesesubjects. A stepwise, multiple, linear, regression analysis was performed for this purpose. The analysisshowed that height is the best predictor for PEFR in the present study. The regression equation basedon height for the combined Indian and Nepalese young adults is calculated as: PEFR = 5.687 × Height(cm) – 495.787. However, a stepwise, multiple, linear, regression equation with residual analysisfor the best fi t model was performed to formulate prediction equation for PEFR and this showed achange of the earlier regression equation to PEFR = 5.930 × Height (cm) – 536.131.Keywords: Peak expiratory fl ow rate, peak fl ow meter, prediction equation, spirometry, youngadults

Factors Influencing Peak Expiratory Flow Rate among Selected People in Basrah City

“…In this study, the age was associated positively with the PEFR, but with no statistical significance, The PEFR decreased with age, most likely, as it was dependent on expiratory effort, lung elastic recoil, and airway size, all of which are known to decline with age 5,6 . PEFR was also significantly higher in males than females, which is consistent with earlier findings 7,4,8,9 . Males with a higher PEFR score than women with a weaker body and more fat deposits are influenced by body composition, muscular strength and nutritional status.…”

Pulmonary function test in healthy school children of 8 to 14 years age in south Gujarat region, India

“…Similar findings were reported by some authors. [ 16 17 ] Various studies[ 5 11 ] have shown that the prediction equation based on age and height and those based on age and body surface area did not show significant difference when used to calculate lung function values.…”

Study of peak expiratory flow rate in young smokers in community

“…The result of this study is in agreement with many other studies done to evaluate the effect of various factors influencing PEFR in healthy subjects and one study which was a comparative study of the peak expiratory flow rate of Indian and Nepalese young adults in a teaching institute shows no significant difference between the smokers and non-smokers of Indian and Nepalese young adults. [25][26][27][28][29] Smokers were found to have significantly lower value of PEFR in comparison to nonsmokers.…”