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Single Breath Counting for Diagnosis and Prediction of Severity of Acute Asthma Exacerbation in Children

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Abstract

Objectives

To find correlation between single breath counting (SBC) and spirometry in acute exacerbation of asthma in children.

Methods

A cross-sectional observational study including all children aged 6–12 y age, who presented in outpatient department or emergency room with acute exacerbation of asthma, not fitting in exclusion criteria were enrolled. SBC and spirometry parameters were obtained before treatment and 1 h after initiating treatment (GINA 2017 Guidelines).

Results

Significant correlation was observed in SBC and FVC (r = 0.349), FEV1 (r = 0.439), FEF25-75 (r = 0.424), and PEF (r = 0.593). Cutoff value of SBC of 23 was found to be suggestive of severe/life-threatening asthma with sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 84.4%. No significant association was found between percent change in SBC and spirometry parameters in response to treatment.

Conclusions

SBC can be used to predict PEF, FEV1, FVC, and FEF25-75 of a patient aged between 6 and 12 y during acute asthma exacerbation. The observed cutoff value of 23 of SBC score has a good sensitivity and specificity to identify life-threatening/severe exacerbation. SBC score significantly increases in response to therapy.

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Data Availability

Yes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Vibhuti, Dr Ekta, Dr Rekha, Dr Mukul and Dr Prabhakar for their help in collating the data and editing/printing.

Funding

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Swami Dayanand Hospital, New Delhi, India

    Devansh Sharma, Anil Kumar Saini, Deo Kumar Jha, Amita Tyagi & Surender Singh Bisht

  2. B-83, Sector 36, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201303, India

    Surender Singh Bisht

Authors
  1. Devansh Sharma
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  2. Anil Kumar Saini
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  3. Deo Kumar Jha
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  4. Amita Tyagi
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  5. Surender Singh Bisht
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Contributions

DS: Conceptualization, investigation, data curation, formal analysis; AKS: Methodology, validation, supervision; DKJ: Writing the original draft, resources; AT: Conceptualization and writing; review and editing; SSB: Visualization, Formal analysis and project administration. SSB will act as the guarantor for this paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Surender Singh Bisht.

Ethics declarations

Ethics Approval

The study was applied for and approved by Hospital Institutional Ethics Committee, Swami Dayanand Hospital, Dilshad Garden, Delhi.

Consent to Participate

Written informed consent for participation in the study was obtained from all the subjects enrolled.

Consent for Publication

Written informed consent for publication was obtained from all the subjects enrolled.

Conflict of Interest

None.

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Sharma, D., Saini, A.K., Jha, D.K. et al. Single Breath Counting for Diagnosis and Prediction of Severity of Acute Asthma Exacerbation in Children. Indian J Pediatr 90, 776–780 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-022-04154-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12098-022-04154-8

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