Piccioni Pavilio, Borraccino Alberto, Forneris Maria Pia, Migliore Enrica, Carena Carlo, Bignamini Elisabetta, Fassio Stefania, Cordola Giorgio, Arossa Walter, Bugiani Massimiliano
SC Pneumologia CPA ASL 4 Torino--Strada dell'arrivore 25/A--10154 Torino, Italy.
Respir Res. 2007 Feb 22;8(1):14. doi: 10.1186/1465-9921-8-14.
The aims of this study were to verify the feasibility of respiratory function tests and to assess their validity in the diagnosis of respiratory disorders in young children.
We performed spirometry and collected information on health and parents' lifestyle on a sample of 960 children aged 3-6.
The cooperation rate was 95.3%. Among the valid tests, 3 or more acceptable curves were present in 93% of cases. The variability was 5% within subjects in 90.8% of cases in all the parameters. We propose regression equations for FVC (Forced Vital Capacity), FEV1, FEV0.5, FEV0.75 (Forced Expiratory Volume in one second, in half a second and in 3/4 of a second), and for Maximum Expiratory Flows at different lung volume levels (MEF75, 50, 25). All parameters are consistent with the main reference values reported in literature. The discriminating ability of respiratory parameters versus symptoms always shows a high specificity (>95%) and a low sensitivity (<20%) with the highest OR (10.55; CI 95% 4.42-25.19) for MEF75. The ability of FEV0.75 to predict FEV1 was higher than that of FEV0.50: FEV0.75 predicts FEV1 with a determination coefficient of 0.95.
Our study confirms the feasibility of spirometry in young children; however some of the current standards are not well suited to this age group. Moreover, in this restricted age group the various reference values have similar behaviour.
本研究的目的是验证呼吸功能测试的可行性，并评估其在幼儿呼吸系统疾病诊断中的有效性。
我们对960名3至6岁的儿童进行了肺活量测定，并收集了有关健康状况和父母生活方式的信息。
合作率为95.3%。在有效测试中，93%的病例有3条或更多可接受的曲线。所有参数中，90.8%的病例受试者内变异性为5%。我们提出了用力肺活量（FVC）、第一秒用力呼气容积（FEV1）、半秒用力呼气容积（FEV0.5）、四分之三秒用力呼气容积（FEV0.75）以及不同肺容积水平的最大呼气流量（MEF75、50、25）的回归方程。所有参数均与文献报道的主要参考值一致。呼吸参数与症状的鉴别能力始终显示出高特异性（>95%）和低敏感性（<20%），MEF75的最高比值比为10.55（95%置信区间4.42 - 25.19）。FEV0.75预测FEV1的能力高于FEV0.50：FEV0.75预测FEV1的决定系数为0.95。
我们的研究证实了肺活量测定在幼儿中的可行性；然而，目前的一些标准并不完全适用于这个年龄组。此外，在这个年龄范围有限的群体中，各种参考值表现相似。
