Correlation Between PEFR and Pulmonary Score in Assessing Mild to Moderate Exacerbation of Bronchial Asthma in Children Aged 6-13 Years Treated at Government Medical College Ernakulam

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by cough, wheeze and breathlessness which is partly reversible. PEFR monitoring is a simpler tool to measure airflow obstruction. Pulmonary score is a useful scoring system to assess the asthma severity. As not much studies are available regarding the use of Pulmonary Score in grading the asthma exacerbations, we conducted a study on the correlation of PEFR values and Pulmonary score among children with mild and moderate exacerbation of bronchial asthma. Methods: A descriptive diagnostic test evaluation was conducted in 50 children with acute exacerbation of asthma aged 6-13 years attending the Paediatric emergency room, Government Medical College Ernakulam over a period of 1 year. Children were classified according to PEFR and Pulmonary Score as mild and moderate exacerbation. Treatment was started according to standard protocol of asthma management. PEFR and pulmonary scoring were done again 20 minutes after bronchodilator therapy and improvement in both were statistically calculated and compared. Conclusion: In our study there was a significant negative correlation between pre-treatment and post- treatment PEFR & PS with a pre-treatment correlation coefficient of -0.657 (P value 0.0001) and post-treatment coefficient of -0.543 (P value 0.0001). As pulmonary score correlates well with PEFR, it can be used as an easy tool to measure the severity of bronchial asthma especially in peripheral centres where a peak flow meter may not be available. This helps in early referral