Normative values and anthropometric determinants of lung function indices in rural Nigerian children: A pilot survey

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: Respiratory diseases represent some of the most common causes of hospital visits in childhood. Most of our decision making rely on clinical assessment without the benefit of objective measures of pulmonary function. The ability to measure pulmonary function provides a tool that can confirm clinical diagnosis, monitor response to therapy and follow progression of disease. Correct interpretation of pulmonary function test requires an appreciation of normal values.

Patients and methods: Lung function test was performed on rural children in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, to determine normal values among healthy children. One hundred and fifty two children aged 6-16 years old comprising 89 males and 63 females were included in this study. Anthropometric measurements including height, weight, sitting height, chest circumference and body surface area were obtained. The Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), forced vital capacity (FVC) and Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) were measured using the spirolab III electronic spirometer manufactured by Medical International Research (MIR) Italy. It was a descriptive cross sectional study.

Results: One hundred and fifty-five children; 89 (58.6%) males and 63 (41.4%) females were studied. The mean age (±SD) of the males was 10.5+2.95 years while that of the females was 10.7 + 3.19 years. The mean PEFR, FVC and FEVI were 3.95±1.55 litres per second (l/s) 1.58±0.58 litres (l) and 1.57±0.56l in the males while for the f ema le s 3.73±1.03l / s , 1.45±0.43l and 1.41±0.41l respectively. The FVC and FEV1 of the males were significantly higher than that of the females (p=0.03 respectively). Height was the significant predictor of PEFR (p=0.04), while the height and sitting height were the important predictors of log FVC and FEV1
for the males respectively (p= 0.007 and 0.02; 0.004 and 0.027). For the female subjects, age was a significant predictor of log PEFR
and Log FVC (p=0.047 and 0.003), while Age and Sitting height were the significant predictors of log FEV1 (p=0.02 and 0.03
respectively).

Conclusion: The study has observed higher lung function indices in the males than in female children. In addition to age and height, sitting height has been observed as an important predictor of the lung function indices of the children studied. This study should be seen as a pilot study and will require data from a large population to establish normal values for our population.

Keywords: Lung function, rural, children, anthropometric determinants