title: A comparison between the three largest and three last of five forced expiratory maneuvers in a population study.
abstract: Five acceptable forced expiratory maneuvers were obtained with a portable spirometer from each person in a population of 1,670 selected from a stratified random sample of a community. The largest 3 of 5 tracings were identifiable as a significantly different subser of the 5 tracings. In 83 per cent of comparisons, the variance of the last 3 was greater than that of the largest 3. Among the largest 3 tracings the highest single value was also identified as significantly different from the other two tracings. For epidemiologic purposes the largest 3 of 5 acceptable tracings is preferable to the last 3 of 5.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005105:Expiratory Reserve Volume; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000502:physiology*; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013147:Spirometry