Background The assumption that the assessment of FEF25-75 does not provide additional information in asthmatic children with normal FEV1 % predicted has not been adequately tested. Objective To determine whether the measurement of the FEF25-75 % predicted offers advantages over the FEV1 % predicted and the FEV1/FVC % predicted for the evaluation of childhood asthma. Methods and Measurements This is a secondary analysis of data from the “Pediatric Asthma Controller Trial” and the “Characterizing the Response to a Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist and Inhaled Corticosteroid” trials. Pearson correlation coefficients, Pearson partial correlation coefficients, canonical correlations, and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves were constructed. Results Among 437 children with normal FEV1 % predicted, FEF25-75 % predicted and FEV1/FVC % predicted were (1) positively correlated with log2 methacholine PC20, (2) positively correlated with morning and evening peak expiratory flow % predicted, and (3) negatively correlated with log10 FeNO and bronchodilator responsiveness. Pearson partial correlations and canonical correlations indicated that FEF25-75 % predicted was better correlated with bronchodilator responsiveness and log2 methacholine PC20 than were the FEV1 % predicted or FEV1/FVC % predicted. In the ROC curve analysis, FEF25-75 at 65% predicted had a 90% sensitivity and a 67% specificity for detecting a 20% increase in FEV1 following albuterol inhalation. Conclusion FEF25-75 % predicted was well correlated with bronchodilator responsiveness in asthmatic children with normal FEV1. FEF25-75 % predicted should be evaluated in clinical studies of asthma in children, and may be of use in predicting the presence of clinically relevant reversible airflow obstruction.

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Death from anaphylaxis in Florida was more likely to occur in older individuals, in an emergency department, and in the months of March and April and July and August.

Written emotional disclosure improves emotional and behavioral functioning among adolescents with asthma, particularly those whose writings suggest emotional processing and cognitive restructuring.

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