Success rate of preschool and school children with/without respiratory symptoms in pulmonary function tests

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to evaluate the success rate of preschool and school children with/without respiratory symptoms in pulmonary function tests. Children and adolescents, aged 4 to 12 years, with/without respiratory symptoms based on the questionnaire of respiratory diseases were included. Participants were recruited from two schools and classified according to their age group in preschool children (4-6 years) and school children (7-12 years). We collected demographic and anthropometric data, and the variables of the manovacuometry test (MIP and MEP) and spirometry test (FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, and FEF25-75%). Pulmonary function tests were considered successful when the participants reached acceptability and reproducibility criteria established by national and international guidelines. In the statistical analysis, we used the chi-square test and Pearson correlation test. We included 148 participants, mean age of 8.1±1.7 years, being 51.4% female and 85.1% healthy. The success rate for the manovacuometry test and spirometry was 91.9% and 91.2%, respectively. There was a significantly lower success rate in the preschool group, compared to school children for both manovacuometry (p=0.044) and spirometry (p=0.015) tests. We found positive correlations between the MIP and FEV1 and MEP and FEF25-75%. The findings demonstrated a significantly lower success rate in preschool age group, compared to pre-school subjects in both pulmonary function tests evaluated.