FEV6 as a Surrogate for FVC in Detecting Airways Obstruction and Restriction in the Workplace

Details

• Personal Author:
  Akpinar-Elci, Muge ; Enright, Paul L. ; Fedan, Kathleen B.
• Description:
  Compared with measurements of forced vital capacity (FVC), using the forced expiratory volume in six seconds (FEV(6)) reduces test time and frustration. It was hypothesised that using FEV(6) in the workplace setting would result in an acceptably low misclassification rate for detecting airways obstruction and spirometry-defined restriction when compared with using the traditional FVC. Experienced technicians from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health performed spirometry using dry rolling-seal spirometers as per American Thoracic Society guidelines in four workplace investigations. Airways obstruction was defined as an FEV(1)/FVC % below the lower limit of normal (LLN) using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III reference equations. Restriction was defined as an FVC below the LLN with a normal FEV(1)/FVC %. These "gold standard" definitions were compared with definitions based on FEV(6) (obstruction: FEV(1)/FEV(6) below the LLN; restriction: FEV(6) below the LLN with a normal FEV(1)/FEV(6)). The median (range) age of the 1,139 workers was 37 yrs (18-71 yrs) and 51.4% were male. A significantly high overall agreement was obtained between the two definitions. In conclusion, the current results confirm that forced expiratory volume in six seconds can be used as a surrogate for forced vital capacity in detecting airways obstruction and restriction in workers, although with some misclassification when compared to obtaining American Thoracic Society-acceptable manoeuvres of longer duration. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Age Factors Aging Demography Lung Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory System Safety Sex Characteristics
• Keywords:
  Age-factors Age-groups Airway-obstruction Airway-resistance Author Keywords: Forced Expiratory Volume In Six Seconds Demographic-characteristics Pulmonary-function Pulmonary-function-tests Pulmonary Function Test Sex-factors Spirometry Worker-health Workers

  More +
• ISSN:
  0903-1936
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 3 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  374-377
• Volume:
  27
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20029574
• Citation:
  Eur Respir J 2006 Feb; 27(2):374-377
• Contact Point Address:
  M. Akpinar-Elci, NIOSH Division of Respiratory Diseases Studies, Field Studies Branch, Mail Stop H-2800, 1095 Willowdale Rd, Morgantown, WV 26505, USA
• Email:
  melci@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2006
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  European Respiratory Journal
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ea18ccb1429e77f15a704a84bb837149b3f21848606d55b19edcb972f60ba6ce4ba8d40f0c74a4e77fd0e3b5552b3b8983e39e42861a945895319277bba7ad10
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/190524/cdc_190524_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 204.26 KB ]