Abstract

Pulmonary function testing has come into widespread use since the 1970s. This has been facilitated by several developments.1,2Pulmonary function tests are valuable investigations in the management of patients with suspected or previously diagnosed respiratory disease. They aid diagnosis, help monitor response to treatment and can guide decisions regarding further treatment and intervention. The interpretation of pulmonary functions tests requires knowledge of respiratory physiology. This study was carried out on patient attending pulmonary medicine OPD. Patient above 20 years of age was included in this study. The test group had 193 patients- comprising of 51 females and 142 males.Subjects were divided in six groups depending on their age and also on the basis of gender. The results showed that values of FVC, FEV 1 , FEF 2 5 - 7 5 % , PEFR were observed to be normal in the age group of 20 -30 years. Pulmonary function, as measured by spirometry is an important predictor in estimating the lung function of persons. Differences in the respiratory patterns of healthy adults and the elderly with no underlying airway and parenchymal pathology, suggesting that age also impacts on lung function. Patient with underlying lung pathology have shown to have poor lung function as compared with the normal individuals.