Abstract
Background: Exhaled Breath Temperature (EBT) is a potential new method for diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases. However, there are few studies showing determinant factors or reference values.
Aim: Establish reference equations for EBT.
Methods: A total of 984 standardized respiratory and allergy symptoms questionnaire questionnaires, were distributed and collected, allowing the selection of 50 healthy subjects, which carried out tests of EBT. Simple and multivariate linear regression analysis was used to obtain reference equations and for determining the variables that were expected to influence the values.
Results: Height is the model that best explains the variation of EBT (r2=0.25, p<0.001). There was a weak but significant correlation between EBT and FVC (r=0.3, p=0.036). There was no significant difference between the values obtained in healthy individuals compared to other studies, but there was a significant difference when compared to asthmatic subjects.
Conclusions: EBT is affected by height, which can also be related to lung volumes. Defining reference equations may help explore the potential of EBT as a simple, inexpensive and easily applied biomarker in clinical practice.
- © 2012 ERS
