Tuberc Respir Dis.  2011 Mar;70(3):199-205. 10.4046/trd.2011.70.3.199.

Proposal of New Criteria for Assessing Respiratory Impairment

• Park JH
• Lee JS
• Huh JW
• Oh YM
• Lee SD
• Lee SW
• Yoon HI
• Kim DK
• Lee CH
• Park MJ
• Kim EK
• Park YB
• Hwang YI
• Jung KS
• Park HY
• Lim SY
• Jung JY
• Kim YS
• Kim HJ
• Rhee CK
• Yoon HK
• Kim YK
• Kim JW
• Yoo JH
• Yoo KH

• KMID: 1442849
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2011.70.3.199

Abstract

Social welfare services for respiratory-disabled persons in Korea are offered based on the respiratory impairment grade, which is determined by 3 clinical parameters; dyspnea, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and arterial oxygen tension. This grading system has several limitations in the objective assessment of respiratory impairment. We reviewed several guidelines for the evaluation of respiratory impairment and relevant articles. Then, we discussed a new grading system with respiratory physicians. Both researchers and respiratory physicians agreed that pulmonary function tests are essential in assessing the severity of respiratory impairment, forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1 and single breath diffusing capacity (DLco) are the primarily recommended tests. In addition, we agreed that arterial blood gas analysis should be reserved for selected patients. In conclusion, we propose a new respiratory impairment grading system utilizing a combination FVC, FEV1 and DLco scores, with more social discussion included.

Keyword

Respiratory System; Disability Evaluation; Respiratory Function Tests; Spirometry; Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity

MeSH Terms

Blood Gas Analysis
Disability Evaluation
Dyspnea
Forced Expiratory Volume
Humans
Korea
Oxygen
Pulmonary Diffusing Capacity
Respiratory Function Tests
Respiratory System
Social Welfare
Spirometry
Vital Capacity
Oxygen

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