Pulmonary function testing differs in children and adults. And difficulty is known to exist in performing accurate testings in children due to many factors including cooperation and because volume changes occur from birth through the period of growth to adulthood.
In spite of its obvious importance, possibly due to the difficulties mentioned, the data on the normal values of pulmonary function test (PFT) in Korean children are extremely scarce, and therefore, currently interpretation of the attempted PFTs becomes less meaningful without proper reference normal values.
This study was conducted to attempt to investigate the reliability of PFT current-ly available in children, to determine the normal range for the results of PFTs in Korean children, and to analyze the PFTs results -in the study population.
A total of 189 Korean children, between 6 and 15 years of age, was subjected to PFTs at Hanyang University Hospital during the period of 3 years from March, 1988 to June, 1986, in this study.
The results of this study are as follows:
1. In 125 boys studied, height ranged from 113.0 to 179.0 cm, weight from 17.3 to 63.0 Kg, and body surface area (BSA) from 0.75 to 1.80 m2. In 64 girls studied, height ranged from 108.5 to 155.0 cm, weight from 17.0 to 50.0 Kg, and BSA from 0.72 to 1.50 m2.
2. FVC test showing MEFV curve, MVV, and Spirometry were performed on each study subject. Numbers, means, and standard deviations of each group of boys and girls at 10 cm interval of height, were obtained for FVC, FEV1, FEV,/FVC, FEF25,75, PF, MEF50%, MEF75%, MVVIO, TV, ERV, IRV, IC, and VC. Boys and girls were divided by 7 and 6 groups of height, respectively, and the means of each measurement of both sexes increased along with increase in height as a whole, except for FEV JFVC.
3. Prediction equations and correlation coefficients on height were obtained in boys and girls for FVC, FEV, FEF Z PF, MEF50%, and MVV,. Correlation coeffi-cients of prediction equations in boys ranged from 0.69 to 0.92 those in girls from 0.67 to 0.91, and those for FVC and FEV, in both sexes were observed to be the highest among them.
4. Comparing the results in both sexes, the predicted values of FVC, FEV, PF, and MVV, of boys, were higher than those of girls as a whole except under about 115 cm in height. However, the predicted values of FEF and MEF50% of girls were heigher than those of boys over all heights.
5. In comparison with other races, the predicted values of FVC and FEV1 of boys were lower than those of Mexican Americans and whites, but higher than those of blacks over all heights. And the predicted `values of EEF25,5 were lower than those of Mexican Americans and whites over all heights, but higher than those of blacks as a whole.
The predicted values of FVC and FEV1 of girls were lower than those of whites and Mexican Americans over all heights, but higher than those of blacks as a whole. And the predicted values of FEF25,5 were lower than those of Mex-ican Americans and whites, but higher than those of blacks over all heights.
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