title: Assessment of peak expiratory flow in asthma.
abstract: Assessment of peak expiratory flow is a test of airway caliber that is simple, inexpensive, and easily performed on an outpatient basis. Because asthma is characterized by fluctuations in airway caliber, such a test can be useful in the diagnosis and assessment of the condition's severity. Although this approach is useful, it has several pitfalls: peak expiratory flow is less sensitive than forced expiratory volume in 1 second in the assessment of airway caliber; compliance with daily assessment on a long-term basis is generally not satisfactory; and daily monitoring of airway caliber may not be more sensitive than symptoms recorded in a diary to identify flare-ups. Peak expiratory flow may be a useful means of asthma assessment for subjects who either under- or over-estimate their symptoms, if the tests are conducted over short intervals of monitoring, and specifically in the investigation of occupational asthma.
authors.affiliation: Universite de Montreal School of Medicine, Department of Chest Medicine, Sacre-Coeur Hospital, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Malo
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001980:Bronchi / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D012648:Self Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity