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Impulse oscillometry in preschool children and association with body mass index
Hermann Kalhoff1, Renate Breidenbach, Hans-Juergen Smith
1Paediatric Clinic, Dortmund, Germany. hermann.kalhoff@klinikumdo.de
Insights
Impulse oscillometry (IOS) can assess lung function in young children. In 6-year-olds, increased body mass index (BMI) was not significantly associated with abnormal airway resistance or reactance using IOS.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Respiratory Physiology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Impulse oscillometry system (IOS) enables lung function testing with minimal cooperation during normal breathing.
- Assessing body mass index (BMI) in relation to respiratory health is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between overweight/obesity and oscillometric lung function parameters in preschool children.
- To evaluate the utility of IOS for respiratory assessments in young children.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 518 preschool children (aged ~6 years).
- Impulse oscillometry (IOS) was used to record airway resistance (R5) and reactance (X5).
- BMI was calculated and correlated with IOS parameters; data were compared to reference equations.
Main Results:
- No significant association was found between BMI and oscillometric parameters (R5, X5) in preschool children.
- Mildly elevated peripheral resistance was suggested when comparing R5 and X5 values to healthy reference ranges.
- The study included a balanced cohort of 241 boys and 277 girls.
Conclusions:
- IOS is a suitable method for measuring respiratory function in preschool children.
- At age 6, standard IOS values do not indicate impaired respiratory function linked to increased BMI.
- Further research may explore long-term respiratory implications of elevated peripheral resistance in this age group.
Background And Objective:
The use of the impulse oscillometry system (IOS) allows differentiated lung function testing with a minimum of cooperation at normal tidal breathing. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to assess the association of body mass (overweight and obese) with oscillometric parameters in preschool children.
Methods:
A preschool medical check of 518 children (age 6.01 ± 0.25 years) included IOS recordings of airway resistance and lung reactance (MasterScreen IOS, CareFusion, Höchberg, Germany). Measured values of respiratory resistance (R5) and reactance (X5) at 5 Hz were correlated with BMI. In addition, data were compared with recently published reference equations.
Results:
In this young age group of 241 boys and 277 girls there was no significant association between oscillometric parameters and BMI. When compared with current IOS reference values of healthy subjects the relationship of R5 (109 ± 25%) and X5 (105.5 ± 35%) suggested mildly elevated peripheral resistance in this unselected group of preschool children.
Conclusions:
IOS is ideally suited to obtain measurements of respiratory function in preschool children. At the age of 6 years, standard oscillometric values do not indicate impaired respiratory function associated with increased BMI.
