Influence of Gender and Anthropometric Parameters on Peak Expiratory Flow Rate and Vital Capacity among Medical Students of a Teaching Institution

Abstract

Introduction: Factors such as age, sex, body surface area, Body mass index (BMI), posture, physical activity, ethnicity etc which can influence Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) as well as vital capacity. This study was aimed to find the influence of gender and anthropometric parameters on PEFR and vital capacity. Material and methods: Healthy medical students (17-23 years) were enrolled in the study. PEFR was recorded using Mini Wight's flow meter and vital capacity was assessed using a wet spirometer. The data were analyzed statistically. Results: The study included 90 students (59 females and 31 males). The study found that males had a significantly higher PEFR and vital capacity compared to females (p=0.0001). A statistically insignificant trend of negative correlation was noted between BMI with PEFR (r =-0.02, p= 0.84) or with vital capacity (r =-0.004, p = 0.97) in females. A significant difference was found between the observed and predicted value for vital capacity in both males and females. Conclusion: Significantly higher PEFR and vital capacity in males could be due to the high stature, muscle build and decreased body fat. This study noted a significant difference between males and females for the observed and predicted value for vital capacity which could be due to the use of inadequate prediction equations for this population. Further studies are needed to derive a better prediction equation to correlate predicted one with the actual vital capacity.

Peak Expiratory Flow Rate and anthropometric determinants in school children from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“…(2) Peak expiratory ow rate (PEFR) is a PFT which measures the maximum speed of air ow attained by a forceful, complete expiration after complete inhalation. (2,3) It was introduced by Hadron in 1942 and accepted in 1949 as an index in spirometry. (5) Notably, although PFT is acknowledged to provide valuable information it is not without its limitations.…”

“…The latter are attributed to biological and socio-cultural factors, such as body size, sex hormones, sex hormone receptors, and intracellular signaling pathways. (3,8,9) Ethnicity has also been shown to have an impact on lung function variation, with white populations having higher Forced Vital Capacity and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1), and black Americans having smaller lung volumes. (4,9) Additionally, increased weight decreases lung volume and capacities, this is due to increasing resistance to out ow of air through the airways.…”