Bhandari A, Singhi S, Bhalla A K, Narang A
Department of Pediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Ann Trop Paediatr. 1998 Dec;18(4):329-34. doi: 10.1080/02724936.1998.11747969.
There are few data from developing countries, including India, on the normal range of the respiratory rate (RR) recorded by observation. To determine the normal range of RR in infants up to 8 weeks of age and to define tachypnoea, we studied 100 healthy infants, 50 of normal birthweight and 50 of low birthweight) at 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of age. The RR was recorded by observation and auscultation simultaneously for 60 seconds on each visit when the baby was either asleep or awake and content. The median RRs ranged between 42 and 43 breaths/min in infants of normal birthweight and 40 and 44 breaths/min. in low birthweight infants. Inter-age variability up to 8 weeks of age was very slight and statistically insignificant. Only 2-10% of the infants at any given age had a RR > or = 60/min. At all ages, RR by observation was higher than that by auscultation (p < 0.001). Neither birthweight nor gender significantly influenced the RR. When awake, infants had significantly higher RRs than when asleep. The RR extrapolated from a 15-second breath count was significantly lower (p < 0.05-0.01), whereas results from 30-second counts were similar to 60-second counts. Our data endorse the use of a RR > or = 60 breaths/min. counted for 1 minute as a cut-off to define tachypnoea in infants < 2 months of age.
包括印度在内的发展中国家，关于通过观察记录的呼吸频率（RR）正常范围的数据很少。为了确定8周龄以内婴儿的RR正常范围并定义呼吸急促，我们研究了100名健康婴儿（50名正常出生体重和50名低出生体重），分别在1、2、4、6和8周龄时进行观察。每次访视时，当婴儿处于睡眠或清醒且状态良好时，同时通过观察和听诊记录RR 60秒。正常出生体重婴儿的RR中位数在42至43次/分钟之间，低出生体重婴儿的RR中位数在40至44次/分钟之间。8周龄以内的年龄间变异性非常小且无统计学意义。在任何给定年龄，只有2 - 10%的婴儿RR≥60次/分钟。在所有年龄，观察到的RR高于听诊得到的RR（p<0.001）。出生体重和性别均未对RR产生显著影响。清醒时，婴儿的RR显著高于睡眠时。从15秒呼吸计数推算出的RR显著更低（p<0.05 - 0.01），而30秒计数的结果与60秒计数相似。我们的数据支持将RR≥60次/分钟持续计数1分钟作为定义2个月以下婴儿呼吸急促的临界值。
