Routine FEV1 measurement is essential in diagnosis and monitoring of childhood asthma: myth or maxim?

Abstract

Childhood asthma is a common condition in children. This review describes the evidence from seven asthma guidelines for using spirometry in the diagnosis and monitoring of childhood asthma. All guidelines recommend spirometry as the primary test to be performed for diagnosing asthma in children aged >5 years. Spirometry is often normal in children with asthma. Guidelines are not consistent with respect to whether forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) or FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC) should be measured, or their threshold for “abnormal” spirometry, and we describe the sensitivity and specificity for these different cut-offs. The role of spirometry in monitoring asthma is less clear in the guidelines, and some do not suggest spirometry should be done. There is no consensus on what spirometric measurement should be used, how often it should be measured and what is a minimum clinically important change in spirometry. The role of spirometry in diagnosing asthma is more clearly established when compared to its role in monitoring asthma. The potential of spirometry to aid decision making for asthma diagnosis and monitoring in children remains to be fully evaluated. Educational aims To provide knowledge of the commonly used guidelines for asthma diagnosis and management. To give insight into the opportunities and challenges in using spirometry to diagnose and monitor asthma in children. To provide an understanding of the precision of spirometry for diagnosing asthma.