English

Abstract

BACKGROUND Measurement of chest expansion is commonly done in physical examination of patients as it gives reliable idea about the rib cage mobility & capacity of lungs along with thorax to expand. Chest expansion values are reduced in diseases and it can be used to check progression of the diseases. In India there is lack of reference data on chest expansion due to which the values derived from other population are used for reference in India. Comparison of the patient with wrong population data will create misinformation & wrong diagnosis. This study was designed to establish reference value for expansion of chest in healthy Indian children, understand relation of age, height, and weight with chest circumference & compare these values with published global values. METHODS Chest expansion & circumference of chest was measured in 229 boys and 226 girls aged 6 – 15 years. The study was conducted in Mumbai metropolitan region and Navi - Mumbai. Standing height, weight, age, sitting chest circumference and chest expansion were recorded. Chest expansion was measured at three different levels i.e. axillary, mammary and xiphoid. The correlation coefficient was used to understand relation of age, weight, height with chest expansion & chest circumference. The prediction equation was derived for both genders separately by multivariate regression. RESULTS Significant positive correlation of chest circumference was observed with age and weight and negative correlation with height. Chest expansion was higher in males as compared to females. Chest expansion had shown positive correlation with age, height and weight. Pearson correlation coefficients were 0.927, 0.885 & - 0.337 respectively. Different prediction equations were drawn for males and females for expansion of chest at all three levels. Significant difference was noted in values of this study and global values. CONCLUSIONS Gender wise differences exist in chest expansion values. Males have higher values than females. Hence gender specific equations are needed for estimation of chest expansion. KEY WORDS Chest Circumference, Indian Children, Chest Expansion, Prediction Equation