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Spirometry in young children

Dept of Paedriatrics, Isala klinieken, Zwolle, the Netherlands

To the Editor:

With interest we read the article by Gracchi et al. 1. In recent years we also evaluated the use of computer-animation programs for spirometry with children in our pulmonary function lab. However, we did not find a significant difference in maximal performance with or without the use of the "candles" and the "balloon" program.

In addition we are surprised to see that the authors did find a difference in reproducibility. When the use of an animation program is only for additional support you are not likely to find a difference in reproducibility. It should be noted that an animation program will of course never be able to replace the lung function technician, but should be used as an extra incentive.

The exact circumstances of this study are not quite clear. Was the use of an incentive always accompanied by the same coaching as blowing without the use of an incentive?

In our study we did find an important difference: all children did find the lung function test more attractive with the use of a computer-animation, and as a result we were able to have pulmonary function tests done in younger children.

So we came to the conclusion that the use of a computer-animation program is useful, even for routine use.

References

1. Gracchi V, Boel M, van der Laag J, van der Ent CK. Spirometry in young children: should computer-animation programs be used during testing?. Eur Respir J 2003;21:872–875.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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