Publication:

Pre- & post- bronchodilator pulmonary function test in Indian females: a survey in and around Jaipur

Background Nonsmoker COPD in people is a continued point of concern. Recent standards prescribe that spirometry should be population specific, recent origin and methodically derived (prescribed by GOLD) with influencing factors specified – which this study aims to do.

Methods From a random sample of 4,500 adults, subjects were invited into study through a 16 point questionnaire. After inclusion/ exclusion criteria applied to 3,733 total responders, 244 rural and 240 urban healthy non-smoker females were enrolled. Spirometry with reproducibility testing before and after bronchodilator (salbutamol) was done as per GOLD prescription. As normality of distribution was disproved, non-parametric methods were used in statistics.

Results Mean FEV1 and FVC were 2.25 and 2.69 liters respectively in rural females, while it was 2.06 and 2.44 liters in urban females. Post-bronchodilator (after 0.3 mg salbutamol) values in rural females were 2.32 and 2.70 liters respectively while the same were 2.13 and 2.45 liters in urban cases.

Conclusion PFT of rural females resulted better on FEV1 and FVC, pre as well as post-bronchodilator. Possibly biomass fuel exposure in the rural females might not be causing a generalized decrease in PFT parameters or urban chemical pollution which might have more than counterbalanced in urban side.