Twice-Daily Peak Expiratory Flow Rate Monitoring for the Assessment of Childhood Asthma
The reliability of the home recording of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) in 31 newly diagnosed school-aged asthmatic children was monitored. The patients recorded their PEFR values in the morning and at bedtime and filled in their diary cards for 14 days. The mean amplitude of PEFR variation between the highest and lowest daily recordings varied from 1.9 to 34.4% (mean 6.7%) of the daily mean. Seven children, six of whom belonging to the most seriously affected half in the group had two or more daily PEFR variations of 15% or higher, but only two of them had their mean amplitude of variation at that limit or more. When the whole group was considered, however, no significant correlation was found between the mean amplitude of PEFR variation and the symptom score, the medication needed, baseline FEV1/FVC, or the methacholine threshold. The findings indicate that twice-daily PEFR monitoring may help the physician detect some troublesome cases of childhood asthma, but it is of limited value for diagnostic purposes or when assessing the degree of severity of asthma in routine clinical work.
Document Type: Research Article
Publication date: 01 January 1993
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