Jocimar Avelar Martins

Precisão e acurácia da cirtometria em adultos saudáveis

OBJECTIVE To determine the intrarater and interrater reliability of cirtometry (measurements of the circumference of the chest and abdomen taken during respiratory movements) as well as its correlation with pulmonary volumes measured by respiratory inductive plethysmography. METHODS A total of 40 healthy individuals were evaluated. The mean age was 28 years. The measurements were taken in the supine position at three different time points: at rest, at maximal inspiration, and at maximal expiration. Two trained investigators, each of whom was blinded as to the results obtained by the other, performed the measurements. The Friedman test was used to determine intrarater reliability, and the Wilcoxon test, together with the intraclass correlation coefficient, were used to determine interrater reliability. The correlation between the cirtometry measurements and the plethysmography results was obtained using Spearmans correlation coefficient. The level of significance was set at 0.05 for all tests. RESULTS Intrarater reliability was satisfactory. Regarding interrater reliability, statistically significant differences (2.8 cm at the most) were found in all sets of measurements. However, through the analysis of the intraclass correlation coefficient, the investigators were found to be responsible only for a small portion of the variability (1.2-5.08%) found among the measurements. When the cirtometry measurements were compared to the volumes measured by respiratory inductive plethysmography, low correlations (range, r = 0.170-0.343) were found. CONCLUSIONS The findings of this study suggest that, although cirtometry is a reliable measurement, it does not accurately measure pulmonary volumes.

Mucociliary clearance, airway inflammation and nasal symptoms in urban motorcyclists

OBJECTIVES: There is evidence that outdoor workers exposed to high levels of air pollution exhibit airway inflammation and increased airway symptoms. We hypothesized that these workers would experience increased airway symptoms and decreased nasal mucociliary clearance associated with their exposure to air pollution. METHODS: In total, 25 non-smoking commercial motorcyclists, aged 18-44 years, were included in this study. These drivers work 8-12 hours per day, 5 days per week, driving on urban streets. Nasal mucociliary clearance was measured by the saccharine transit test; airway acidification was measured by assessing the pH of exhaled breath condensate; and airway symptoms were measured by the Sino-nasal Outcome Test-20 questionnaire. To assess personal air pollution exposure, the subjects used a passive-diffusion nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration-monitoring system during the 14 days before each assessment. The associations between NO2 and the airway outcomes were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and the Chi-Square test. Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01976039. RESULTS: Compared with clearance in healthy adult males, mucociliary clearance was decreased in 32% of the motorcyclists. Additionally, 64% of the motorcyclists had airway acidification and 92% experienced airway symptoms. The median personal NO2 exposure level was 75 mg/m3 for these subjects and a significant association was observed between NO2 and impaired mucociliary clearance (p = 0.036). CONCLUSION: Non-smoking commercial motorcyclists exhibit increased airway symptoms and airway acidification as well as decreased nasal mucociliary clearance, all of which are significantly associated with the amount of exposure to air pollution.

Feasibility and reproducibility of spirometry and inductance plethysmography in healthy Brazilian preschoolers

Preschoolers show peculiarities that reinforce the importance of assessing their pulmonary function. However, there are few data on the success rate and between‐occasions reproducibility of pulmonary function tests in preschoolers, particularly in the Brazilian population.

Prediction equations for spirometry in four- to six-year-old children

OBJECTIVE To generate prediction equations for spirometry in 4- to 6-year-old children. METHODS Forced vital capacity, forced expiratory volume in 0.5s, forced expiratory volume in one second, peak expiratory flow, and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the forced vital capacity were assessed in 195 healthy children residing in the town of Sete Lagoas, state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. The least mean squares method was used to derive the prediction equations. The level of significance was established as p<0.05. RESULTS Overall, 85% of the children succeeded in performing the spirometric maneuvers. In the prediction equation, height was the single predictor of the spirometric variables as follows: forced vital capacity=exponential [(-2.255)+(0.022×height)], forced expiratory volume in 0.5s=exponential [(-2.288)+(0.019×height)], forced expiratory volume in one second=exponential [(-2.767)+(0.026×height)], peak expiratory flow=exponential [(-2.908)+(0.019×height)], and forced expiratory flow at 25-75% of the forced vital capacity=exponential [(-1.404)+(0.016×height)]. Neither age nor weight influenced the regression equations. No significant differences in the predicted values for boys and girls were observed. CONCLUSION The predicted values obtained in the present study are comparable to those reported for preschoolers from both Brazil and other countries.