TY - JOUR T1 - Computerized adventitious respiratory sounds as outcome measures for respiratory therapy: a systematic review JF - Respiratory Care DO - 10.4187/respcare.02765 SP - respcare.02765 AU - Alda S. P. D. Marques AU - Ana L. A. Oliveira AU - Cristina I. O. Jácome Y1 - 2013/09/17 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2013/09/17/respcare.02765.abstract N2 - Introduction: There is aneed to develop simple, non-invasive and sensitive outcome measures for respiratory therapy. Adventitious respiratory sounds (i.e., crackles and wheezes) can be objectively characterized with computerized respiratory sound analysis and have been shown to contribute for diagnosis purposes however; their potential to be used as outcome measures is unknown. Thus, this systematic review synthetizes the evidence on the use of computerized adventitious respiratory soundsas outcome measures. Methods: The Web of knowledge, MEDLINE, EMBASE and SCOPUS databases were searched. Reviewers independently selected studies according to the eligibility criteria. Effect sizes and 95% confidence intervals were computed. Results: Twelve studies with different designs (observational (n=3), quasi-experimental (n=7) and randomized controlled trial (n=2)) were included. Eight studies were conducted with adults and four with children. Most studies explored only one type of adventitious respiratory sound. For wheezes, the occupation rate seemed to be the most promising parameter to be used as an outcome measure, with high/medium effect sizes (from 0.62 to 1.82). For crackles, the largest deflection width showed high effect sizes (1.31 and 1.04) however, it was only explored in one study. Crackle number and two cycle duration presented conflicting information, with high/poor effect sizes depending on the study. Conclusion: Specific variables of each adventitious respiratory sounddetected and characterized by computerized respiratory sound analysis showed high effect sizes and thus, potential to be used as outcome measures. Further research with robust study designs, larger samples, both of children and adult populations,and following CORSA guidelines are needed to build evidence base knowledge on this topic. ER -