Lung Function Test in Asthmatics Patients in UBTH: Medical Awareness and Anaesthetic Implications

This report describes the result of a study on lung function tests on 75 asthmatics seen within a 6-month period (January 1 to June 30, 2004) at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Benin City, Nigeria. There was a preponderance of females (60%) to males (40%); The result also showed that a large proportion of the patients had mild to moderate asthma (72 percent) while 28 percent of the asthmatics had severe asthma. The FEV₁ was less than 60% in 28% of respondents. Four patients (5.3%) had previous surgery with no adverse preoperative events. No attempt was made to determine the exact prevalence of the condition but there seemed little doubt that asthma prevalence in Nigeria has increased markedly in the past 10 years. It therefore became necessary to create awareness about the usefulness of lung function tests. The medical and anaesthetic implications of the pattern of severity of the disease are discussed.

Keywords
Asthma, lung function tests, spirometer, peak flow meter, FEV1, FVC, Anaesthetic implication, Nigeria.