Chest
Reference Equations Used to Predict Pulmonary Function: Survey at Institutions with Respiratory Disease Training Programs in the United States and Canada
Section snippets
METHODS
Letters were mailed to the directors of training programs in adult respiratory disease listed by the American Thoracic Society. We requested specific citations for the prediction equations used for spirometry, lung volumes, carbon monoxide diffusing capacity, and airway resistance. We also asked for a description of how they dealt with ethnic differences in pulmonary function. A follow up request was sent to institutions which had not responded to the first inquiry.
RESULTS
One hundred and eighty institutions were surveyed; 96 replies were received after the first mailing, 50 after the second. Seven replies were excluded because they lacked adequate detail. We were able to analyze 139 replies (77.2 percent of those surveyed). The geographic distribution of inquiries and responses is shown in Table 1.
All 139 institutions provided reference equations for spirometry. We chose to deal only with standard spirometric indices and have listed only equations cited by more
DISCUSSION
Despite the number of reference studies and equations available in the literature, surprisingly few equations are widely used. Three studies accounted for 85 percent of the equations used for standard spirometric indices. It was not uncommon for institutions to use a different reference equation for each spirometric parameter. While we are not aware of studies on the effects of this practice, it seems likely to increase the uncertainty that prediction equations will match the clinical
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Pulmonary Function Testing
2010, Current Clinical Medicine: Expert Consult Premium Edition - Enhanced Online Features and Print
Manuscript received August 5; revision accepted July 17.