Pulmonary Function in a Hospital Population of Asthmatic Children

Abstract

Traditionally, assessment of control of pediatric asthma has relied on symptoms reported by the child and his or her family, and on clinical examination at office visits. A survey of the pulmonary function of 100 clinically stable asthmatic children, recruited from the outpatient clinics of the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia for a clinical drug trial was performed. Correlation of baseline pulmonary function with symptom scores recorded at home and home monitoring of peak expiratory flow variability (PEFV) found that a third of these clinically stable asthmatic children had an abnormal FEV₁ and half had an abnormal FEF_25-75; however, there was no correlation between symptom scores and FEV₁ or PEFV. Objective measurements of pulmonary function are needed to ensure good asthma control. Home monitoring of peak expiratory flow can provide a valuable aid for the management of pediatric asthma.