Location
Lecture Hall-1
Start Date
27-2-2014 3:40 PM
COinS
Feb 27th, 3:40 PM
Feb 27th, 3:50 PM
Frequency of Lung decline in Asymptomatic Patient by using FEV1
Lecture Hall-1
Description
Introduction: Smoking is a malicious curse of world today. Smoking related diseases kill one in ten adults globally.Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. It is a prime etiologic factor in heart disease, stroke and chronic lung disease. There is mounting evidence of the harmful effect of passive smoking. Smoking causes airway obstruction, chronic expectoration and decline in lung functions.
All these effects are directly proportional to number of pack years and there is definite tendency to narrowing of both the larger and smaller airways.
Spirometry is the best method to detect borderline to mild airway obstruction, which occurs early without appearance of any symptoms or signs.(5) FEV1 is the most important spirometric variable for assessment of airflow obstruction.(6 ) There is a close relationship between the amount of tobacco smoked and the rate of decline in forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), although individuals vary greatly in susceptibility.
Obejective: The purpose of this study is to measure FEV1 in asymptomatic smokers because it carries huge implications for revolutionizing primary health care as spirometry has till date not been completely considered a part of routine medical examination despite the high burden of respiratory obstructive diseases. This could potentially be due to the fact that very few studies to evaluate the role of spirometry have been carried out in the context of the local population in underdeveloped countries where the prevalence of COPD is not known. This study can help counseling of patients that earlier detection of airflow obstruction and smoking cessation may result in significant health gain and Smoking cessation reduces the accelerated rate of decline of FEV1 found in current smokers compared to ex-smokers and can be used to convince people to quit smoking.
Material and methods: The cross sectional study will be carried out prospectively in the outpatient spirometric unit of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. This will be be a six month study.The study will commenced after approval following approval of synopsis by Research evaluating unit(REU), College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan.
Sample size: From the literature, According to spirometric results 38% smoker had confirmed COPD (10). Therefore taking the frequency of 38%, with a bound on error of 0.09 (9%), an alpha significance level of 0.05 with a 95% CIs, a sample of at least 112 will require to achieve this objective.