Estimation of peak expiratory flow rate in young Indians.

INTRODUCTION: Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) is commonly used to monitor the progression of respiratory diseases as it gives good information about the status of airways. A good amount of research is going across the world to establish a local prediction equation. The joint task force of the American thoracic society and European Respiratory Society has promoted research in this regard. In India, data derived from the Caucasian population are still used for PEFR. OBJECTIVE: To verify the relationship between PEF levels and the variables age, sex, anthropometric and body surface area, and establish the regression equation for young Indian adults. METHODS:  A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in 15-25 years aged 1000 subjects from the Metropolitan region of Mumbai. Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to understand the relation of anthropometric parameters and PEFR. Multivariate regression analysis was done for establishing a prediction equation (Alpha 5%).  RESULTS: Age and all anthropometric parameters were correlated with PEFR. The mean PEFR of the male population was 515 ml/sec, whereas, for females, it was 399 ml/sec, for PEFR highest correlation was observed with BSA (.696) followed by weight (.667), height (.630), age (.504) whereas BMI shown lowest correlation coefficient (.445). PEFR had the best significance with age, BSA, Height, and BMI. It had less significance with weight. In females, PEFR had the best significance with Height, weight, BMI, and Age. CONCLUSION: Gender-wise differences exist in PEFR. Hence gender-specific equations are needed for the estimation of PEFR.