Abstract
Background: Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) is an essential measure in the monitoring and evaluation of airway obstruction in asthmatic children. Studies on PEFR in children are limited. The objectives of the study were to evaluate PEFR in healthy school going children and its correlation with age, weight, height and Body Surface Area and to derive their prediction equations.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 1200 healthy school children age group of 5-15 years after approval from the institutional Ethical committee. All the analysis was carried out by using SPSS version 16.0. Pearson correlation coefficient was calculated to find the correlation between PEFR and anthropometric parameters among boys and girls. Results: PEFR was higher in boys than girls among all age groups except for 5 years of age. PEFR prediction equations were obtained both for boys and girls using multiple regression equations. For boys: 4.21* age in years2+0.68* height in cms – 2.48* weight in kg +322.85* BSA3 – 137.88 and for girls: 10.64* age in years1 +0.25* height in cms +0.09* weight in kg + 99.44* BSA -22.41 (1p=0.0001, 2p=0.001, 3p=0.007). Conclusions: We developed PEFR prediction equations in children using weight, height, and body surface area. This would be helpful in evaluation of children with airway diseases.
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