Baseline Impulse Oscillometry Metrics Differentiate Asthmatic Children From Non-Asthmatic Children Across Ethnicity/Race: A Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Identifying the asthmatic early to prevent permanent airway remodeling and the progression of the disease is desirable. In children, baseline impulse oscillometry has been found effective in identifying asthma in some studies but not others.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to utilize a meta-analysis to determine whether there were significant peripheral airway differences between asthmatic and non-asthmatic children across ethnicity/race, utilizing baseline impulse oscillometry (IOS) to establish its usefulness as a diagnostic tool in this age group.

Methods: This was a comprehensive search of published literature on pediatric oscillometric studies evaluating younger children (mean age ranging from 4.3 to 6 years) and older children (mean age ranging from 8.7 to 11.4 years) from the United States, Europe, Asia, and Middle East. Inclusion criteria required the primary variable resistance at 5 Hertz (R5) (kPa/L/s) or (cmH₂O/L/s) for both control and asthmatic subjects, and excluded studies if asthmatics had uncontrolled disease.

Results: Our data show that there are significantly higher R5 and area of reactance (AX) and lower reactance at 5 Hertz (X5) in both younger and older asthmatic children compared to healthy controls from various countries.

Conclusions: This meta-analysis firmly establishes that baseline oscillometry metrics, resistance and reactance, are effective in identifying the asthmatic child across age and the ethnicities/races evaluated.