A. Patzak et al., Time of measurement influences the variability of tidal breathing parameters in healthy and sick infants, RESP PHYSL, 128(2), 2001, pp. 187-194
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the time, when me
asuring tidal breathing parameters 1 min (epoch 1) and 5 min (epoch 2) afte
r application of the facemask in healthy infants and infants with bronchopu
lmonary dysplasia (BPD), using the dead space free flow-through technique.
In both patient groups, there were no statistically significant differences
between epoch 1 and 2, in most of the tidal breathing parameters, except a
n increased VE and increased correlation dimension of the respiratory signa
l in the BPD infants in epoch 1. However. in nearly all parameters the coef
ficient of variation (CV) was significantly higher in epoch 1 compared with
epoch 2. and in some infants. we found very high CVs ( > 50%) in epoch 1,
which disappeared in epoch 2. The study shows that after having applied the
Facemask, a sufficient amount of adaptation time is necessary in order to
reduce the within-subject variability and improve the reproducibility and i
nterpretation of tidal breathing measurements in infants. (C) 2001 Elsevier
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