RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MEASURES OF HYPERVENTILATION IN ADULTS WITH ASTHMA

Grammatopoulou E.¹, Skordilis E.², Evangelodimou A.¹, Papandreou M.¹, Georgoudis G.^1,3

¹Technological Education Institute of Athens, Physiotherapy, Athens, Greece, ²National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Athens, Greece, ³PHYSIOPAIN Group, Director, www.physiopain.com, Athens, Greece

Background: It is well established that during acute paroxysms of asthma, individuals have symptoms of hyperventilation that leads to hypocapnia; a few studies have shown that patients with stable asthma exhibit hypocapnia. Hypocapnia in turn may lead to bronchoconstriction and increase airway resistance in patients with asthma. Screening tools for hyperventilation include biochemical measures such as end-tidal CO₂ (ETCO₂), biomechanical measures such assessments of breathing pattern, respiratory rate (RR), breathing symptom questionnaires and tests of breathing function such as breath holding time.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between measures of hyperventilation in adults with asthma.

Methods: 162 Greek adults with diagnosed asthma, 68 (42%) men and 94 (58%) women, 20 - 68 yrs (Μ.Ο. = 46.65 ± 12.94), out-patients of asthma clinic of the “Amalia Fleming” General Hospital in Athens, Greece, participated in the study. ETCO2, the Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ), BHT and RR were used as hyperventilation screening tools. Correlations were conducted through Pearson’s r correlation coefficient.

Results: Significant positive correlations were found between: a) ETCO2 with RR (r = 0.86, p 0.01) and BHT (r = 0.88, p 0.01) and b) NQ with RR (r = 0.68, p 0.01). Significant negative correlations revealed between: a) NQ with ETCO2 (r = - 0.68, p 0.01) and BHT (r = - 0.65, p 0.01) and b) RR with BHT (r = - 0.88, p 0.01).

Conclusion(s): In clinical practice of patients with asthma, hyperventilation may be defined through biochemical, biomechanical or breathing function screening tools.

Implications: In clinical practice of asthma patients, the physiotherapy assessment can be based on biochemical, biomechanical or breathing function screening tools.

Funding acknowledgements: None

Topic: Cardiorespiratory

Ethics approval: Ethical approval was granted from the TEI of Athens (University of Applied Sciences) and the “Amalia Fleming” General Hospital, Athens.

All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.