Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2017. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Methodol. Dec 26, 2017; 7(4): 129-138
Published online Dec 26, 2017. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v7.i4.129
Is forced oscillation technique the next respiratory function test of choice in childhood asthma
Afaf Alblooshi, Alia Alkalbani, Ghaya Albadi, Hassib Narchi, Graham Hall
Afaf Alblooshi, Ghaya Albadi, Hassib Narchi, Department of Pediatrics, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
Alia Alkalbani, Department of Pediatrics, Tawam Hospital, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
Graham Hall, Department of Children’s Lung Health, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth 6000, Australia
Graham Hall, School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University and Centre of Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth 6000, Australia
Author contributions: Alblooshi A developed the framework for the review; Alblooshi A and Alkalbani A wrote the manuscript with guidance; Narchi H and Hall G designed overall direction from; all authors contributed to the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Afaf Alblooshi, Professor, Department of Pediatrics, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 17666, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates. afaf.alblooshi@uaeu.ac.ae
Telephone: +971-3-7137433 Fax: +971-3-7672022
Received: February 27, 2017
Peer-review started: February 28, 2017
First decision: September 4, 2017
Revised: October 8, 2017
Accepted: November 1, 2017
Article in press: November 1, 2017
Published online: December 26, 2017
Abstract

Respiratory diseases, especially asthma, are common in children. While spirometry contributes to asthma diagnosis and management in older children, it has a limited role in younger children whom are often unable to perform forced expiratory manoeuvre. The development of novel diagnostic methods which require minimal effort, such as forced oscillation technique (FOT) is, therefore, a welcome and promising addition. FOT involves applying external, small amplitude oscillations to the respiratory system during tidal breathing. Therefore, it requires minimal effort and cooperation. The FOT has the potential to facilitate asthma diagnosis and management in pre-school children by faciliting the objective measurement of baseline lung function and airway reactivity in children unable to successfully perform spirometry. Traditionally the use of FOT was limited to specialised centres. However, the availability of commercial equipment resulted in its use both in research and in clinical practice. In this article, we review the available literature on the use of FOT in childhood asthma. The technical aspects of FOT are described followed by a discussion of its practical aspects in the clinical field including the measurement of baseline lung function and associated reference ranges, bronchodilator responsiveness and bronchial hyper-responsiveness. We also highlight the difficulties and limitations that might be encountered and future research directions.

Keywords: Asthma, Forced oscillation technique, Impulse oscillatory, Pre-school, Children, Pulmonary function test

Core tip: Respiratory diseases, such as asthma, are especially common in children. Although their diagnosis and management are facilitated by using spirometry in older children, the use of the latter remains limited in younger children because of their inability to perform forced expiratory manoeuvre. Therefore, the use of new methods which require minimal effort and cooperation from children, such as the forced oscillation technique (FOT) is a welcome and promising addition to identify children with underlying airway function abnormalities. In this article, we review the available literature on the use of FOT in childhood asthma.