Effects of equipment and technique on peak flow measurements.

Bongers, Thomas and O'Driscoll, B Ronan (2006) Effects of equipment and technique on peak flow measurements. BMC pulmonary medicine, 6 (1). 14-.

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Abstract

<h4>Background</h4>Different lung function equipment and different respiratory manoeuvres may produce different Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) results. Although the PEF is the most common lung function test, there have been few studies of these effects and no previous study has evaluated both factors in a single group of patients.<h4>Methods</h4>We studied 36 subjects (PEF range 80-570 l/min). All patients recorded PEF measurements using a short rapid expiration following maximal inspiration (PEF technique) or a forced maximal expiration to residual volume (FVC technique). Measurements were made using a Wright's peak flow meter, a turbine spirometer and a Fleisch pneumotachograph spirometer.<h4>Results</h4>The mean PEF was 8.7% higher when the PEF technique was used (compared with FVC technique, p < 0.0001). The mean PEF recorded with the turbine spirometer was 5.5% lower than the Wright meter reading. The Fleisch spirometer result was 19.5% lower than the Wright reading. However, adjustment of the Wrights measurements from the traditional Wright's scale to the new EU Peak Flow scale produced results that were only 7.2% higher than the Fleisch pneumotachograph measurements.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Peak flow measurements are affected by the instruction given and by the device and Peak Flow scale used. Patient management decisions should not be based on PEF measurement made on different instruments.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	## TULIP Type: Articles/Papers (Journal) ## official_url: www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2466/6/14
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Humans, Respiratory Function Tests, Vital Capacity, Peak Expiratory Flow Rate, Spirometry, Respiratory Mechanics, Aged, Middle Aged, Female, Male
Subjects:	?? R1 ??
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Systems, Molecular and Integrative Biology
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	01 Jul 2008 15:32
Last Modified:	16 Mar 2024 07:52
DOI:	10.1186/1471-2466-6-14
Publisher's Statement :	© 2006 Bongers and O'Driscoll; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/765