Chest
Volume 86, Issue 4, October 1984, Pages 568-572
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Maximal Inspiratory and Expiratory Pressures in Adolescents: Normal Values

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The measurement of maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures at the mouth (MIP and MEP, respectively) provides a noninvasive clinical method for evaluating the strength of respiratory muscles. In an attempt to reconcile the widely divergent normal values reported in the literature for healthy adolescents, we have measured, using simple manometry, MIP and MEP in 112 white subjects, 76 adolescents and 36 healthy adults. For female adolescents the values for MIP and MEP were 76 ± 25 and 86 ± 22 cm H2O, respectively, and were significantly less than those for male adolescents (p<0.01), whose mean values were 107 ± 26 and 114 ± 35 cm H2O, respectively. Mean values for adolescents were comparable to values measured in adult control subjects, and for both adolescents and adults, mean values approximated the lower end of the previously reported ranges of normal values in healthy subjects. Thus, MIP and MEP in healthy adolescents are significantly greater in male subjects than female subjects, but are comparable to those of healthy adults of the same sex. Furthermore, these studies suggest that the choice of normal values for MIP and MEP must take into account significant methodologic differences among laboratories.

Section snippets

MATERIALS AND METHODS

One hundred and twelve white subjects participated in the study. Seventy-six were adolescents (36 male and 40 female subjects) who were examined after parental consent was obtained. All subjects denied any respiratory problem and were not receiving medical therapy. Each subject was examined by a physiotherapist and a public health nurse for the presence of scoliosis, and those with a curve of greater than 10° were omitted from the study. Measurements of standing height and weight were obtained,

RESULTS

Seven of the adolescent subjects (9 percent; five male and two female subjects) had measurements of FVC which were below the 95 percent confidence limit for their height, and two of the subjects (3 percent; one male and one female subject) had values for FEV1/FVC which were more than 2 SD below the mean for the group. In order to ensure that all results were from a normal healthy population, the data for these subjects were not included in the analysis. The characteristics of the remaining

DISCUSSION

In the present study, we measured MIP and MEP in a group of healthy adolescents in order to define a range of normal values. The reported mean values for MIP in female adolescents have ranged from mean values of 73 to 103 cm H2O and for MEP from 95 to 145 cm H2O.4, 5, 8 In the present large group of subjects of comparable height and weight, the measured values closely approximate the lower end of this range (Table 2). The reported mean values of MIP and MEP in male adolescents are based on only

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We thank Ms. C. MacHattie for her technical assistance, and Ms. M. T. Berk for her assistance in preparation of the manuscript.

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Manuscript received December 13; revision accepted April 4.

†Supported by a fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada

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