Effect of acute respiratory infections in infancy on pulmonary function test at 3 years of age: a prospective birth cohort study

Kumar, Prawin; Mukherjee, Aparna; Randev, Shivani; Medigeshi, Guruprasad R; Jat, Kana Ram; Kapil, Arti; Lodha, Rakesh; Kabra, Sushil Kumar

Results We screened 3421 neonates; 310 were enrolled; IPFT was performed in 225 (boys: 125 (55.6%)) at 3 years. During infancy, 470 ARI episodes were documented in 173 infants. At 3 years, children with history of any ARI episode during infancy had lower forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV 1.0 ), forced expiratory volume in 0.75 s (FEV 0.75 ), forced expiratory volume in 0.5 s (FEV 0.5 ), forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% of FVC (FEF ), and maximal expiratory flow at 25% of FVC (MEF 25 ) as compared with those without any ARI episode during infancy. The ratio of tidal expiratory flow (TEF) at 25% or 50% of tidal expiratory volume to peak TEF (TEF 50 or TEF 25 /peak TEF) at 3 years was significantly increased in children who had ARI in infancy.