Spirometry reference equations for central European populations from school age to old age.

• Main Authors: Mascha K Rochat, Ruediger P Laubender, Daniela Kuster, Otto Braendli, Alexander Moeller, Ulrich Mansmann, Erika von Mutius, Johannes Wildhaber
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
• Series: PLoS ONE
• Online Access: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/23320075/pdf/?tool=EBI

<h4>Background</h4>Spirometry reference values are important for the interpretation of spirometry results. Reference values should be updated regularly, derived from a population as similar to the population for which they are to be used and span across all ages. Such spirometry reference equations are currently lacking for central European populations.<h4>Objective</h4>To develop spirometry reference equations for central European populations between 8 and 90 years of age.<h4>Materials</h4>We used data collected between January 1993 and December 2010 from a central European population. The data was modelled using "Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale and Shape" (GAMLSS).<h4>Results</h4>The spirometry reference equations were derived from 118'891 individuals consisting of 60'624 (51%) females and 58'267 (49%) males. Altogether, there were 18'211 (15.3%) children under the age of 18 years.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We developed spirometry reference equations for a central European population between 8 and 90 years of age that can be implemented in a wide range of clinical settings.