Spirometric Values in Healthy Nigerian School Children Aged 6-11 Years

Background: Respiratory disorders are among the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children and the use of spirometry in measuring lung function, diagnosing and monitoring of variety of paediatric respiratory diseases is becoming relevant.

Aims: To determine the standard Forced vital capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR) values for children in this environment.

Methods: The study was descriptive cross sectional study of 710 primary school pupils aged 6-11 years in Kano metropolis.

Results: There was no significant difference in the mean anthropometry and lung function parameter between the males and females studied. The result of this study showed that on the average the FEV1, FVC and PEFR was slightly higher in boys for most ages and the mean Lung function parameters increased with height. When compared to studies in Caucasians, this study had higher mean PEFR for height while the mean FEV1 and FVC values were lower than that in those studies. The predictive regression equation for the major lung function parameters for both gender were also obtained. FEV1 – Male: 0.018H+-1.099, Female: 0.019H + - 1.142. FVC- Male: 0.018H + - 1.057 while Female was 0.019H+ -1.181 and PEFR - Male was 0.069H + -5.344 while Female was 0.052H + -3.153.

Conclusions: It is necessary for African countries especially Nigeria, to have validated Spirometric reference values for children.