Challenges and Importance of Thoracic Expansion Measuring Device

Abstract

Thoracic expansion is defined as the difference in chest circumference between maximal exhalation and maximal inhalation. The ability to accurately evaluate thoracic expansion is important in diagnosing and evaluating the severity of disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, bronchiectasis, and ankylosing spondylitis. This study aimed to evaluate the available device for measuring thoracic expansion along with its cost, working mechanism, equipment required, the expertise required to operate it, reliability and validity of the device, and its commercial availability in the market. From January 2011 to December 2021, relevant keywords such as instruments for measuring chest expansion, sensors for detecting chest expansion, and others were used to search articles in electronic databases such as PubMed, PEDro, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar. To handle bibliographic data, the open-source reference management software Mendeley was utilized, and the duplicate research article was removed, allowing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram to be generated. Only 96 publications were considered based on the Downs and Black checklist, which was used to assess the methodological quality of the studies. Statistical analysis was done using the descriptive analysis method for assessing the data. Further study into producing accurate, cost-effective, easy-to-use, and widely available chest expansion measurement equipment that anybody can use without complexity or supervision is suggested.