Spirometry and lung function in children with congenital deafness.
OBJECTIVE
Deaf children do not develop a verbal language and will therefore not experience normal changes in airway pressure produced by speech. The impact on lung development of factors such as talking and screaming has not previously been investigated.


METHODS
We performed spirometry in 51 children with congenital deafness without other medical problems and compared the results with 82 healthy hearing controls.


RESULTS
The deaf children had poorer spirometry results. They participated in the spirometry manoeuvre with less enthusiasm than the controls. This was due to difficulty in giving non-verbal instructions in an enthusiastic way. When comparing only those in the two groups whose participation in the spirometry testing was evaluated as very good, poorer results were nevertheless obtained by the deaf group.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that spirometry instructions for deaf children must be improved. Furthermore, a positive effect on lung development through use of the lungs for speech and screaming cannot be excluded.
Jonsson
Osten
O
Department of Paediatrics, Orebro University Hospital, Orebro, Sweden. osten.jonsson@orebroll.se
Gustafsson
Dan
D
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003638:Deafness / Q000151:congenital* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D013147:Spirometry