Peak expiratory flow in Afro-Caribbean children with and without sickle cell anaemia.
OBJECTIVE
To create a reference range of peak expiratory flow (PEF) results of Afro-Caribbean children and determine whether interpretation of PEF results in children with sickle cell anaemia (SCA) differed according to whether comparison was made of results obtained from children of similar age or height.


METHODS
A prospective observational study was carried out in two specialist sickle cell disease clinics. Seventy-eight nonasthmatic African and Caribbean (AC) controls (age range 2.6-17.8 years), and 99 nonasthmatic SCA children (age range 3.4-17.3 years) were recruited. PEF was measured using a dry rolling sealed spirometer before and after bronchodilator therapy.


RESULTS
PEF results in the AC controls correlated with height (r = 0.88, p< 0.0001). Comparison of similarly aged children demonstrated that pre- (p = 0.02) and post- (p = 0.04) bronchodilator PEF results were lower in the SCA children, but comparison of children of similar height revealed no statistically significant differences in PEF results between children with SCA and controls. The SCA children tended to be shorter than the controls.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest PEF measurements are not a useful method of monitoring the respiratory status of children with sickle cell disease.
Division of Asthma, Allergy and Lung Biology, MRC-Asthma Centre, King's College London, UK.
K P
KP
Sylvester
R A
RA
Patey
G F
GF
Rafferty
D
D
Rees
S L
SL
Thein
A
A
Greenough
D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology; D017691:Caribbean Region; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010366:Peak Expiratory Flow Rate / Q000187:drug effects*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012119:Respiration
D001993:Bronchodilator Agents