Abstract
Guidelines of the Global Initiative for Asthma recommend the use of peak expiratory flow (PEF) in the assessment and management of patients with asthma. However, normal PEF values for Chinese children have not been thoroughly investigated. This was a cross-sectional study of 3,169 healthy children aged 5-14 years from research centers in five cities of China: Guangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an, and Beijing. We established pediatric reference values for PEF using a mini peak flow meter. PEF values recorded by the mini peak flow meter were compared with those obtained using a spirometer. Height was the biometric variable with greatest correlation to PEF for both sexes. Significant differences were noted between males and females. The regression equation for boys was calculated as PEF =4.39× height (cm) -300.48 (R2 =0.76, P<0.001); for girls, this equation was PEF =4.13× height (cm) -278.04 (R2 =0.72, P<0.001). PEF values for Chinese children according to age were close to those of Irish, Turkish, and British children but were lower than those of children in Greece; PEF values according to height were similar to those of Turkish and Danish children but lower than values for children in Ireland. We established normal PEF values and developed predictive equations using linear regression analysis for Chinese children aged 5-14 years, while Greece and Ireland references were inappropriate for Chinese children.
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