Objective: To establish a reference value of peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) of normal boys and girls of urban and rural areas aged 6 to 15 years from Kamataka, South India and compare with other studies.
Methods: Twelve schools from urban and rural areas were selected to participate in the study. The permission was taken from the principal and the parents of the students from I to IX standards. A total of 6568 students participated in the study from 1994 to 1999. Among them 1091 children, were excluded from the study, who had respiratory symptoms and low peak expiratory flow rates who responded well to Salbutamol inhalation therapy in a spacer of 750 ml in volume.
Result: A total of 5477 normal children were selected for the study. 2838 (51.8%) were boys; 2639 (48.2%) were girls. 4817 (87.9%) were from urban area and 660 (12.1%) were from rural areas. PEFR values correlated best with height, there was no difference in sexes, religion and urban/rural children.