Comparison of home‐based spirometry and oscillometry measurements in school‐age children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia

Abstract Introduction This study compares home‐based oscillometry and spirometry for characterizing respiratory system disease in school‐aged children with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in clinical research. We hypothesized higher rates of successful completion and abnormal cases identified through oscillometry, with correlations between device measurements. Methods Participants 6–12 years old with BPD in the ongoing Air Quality, Environment and Respiratory Outcomes in BPD (AERO‐BPD) study performed oscillometry followed by spirometry at two separate home visits. Parameters measured included airway resistance at 5 Hz(R 5 ), resistance from 5 to 19 Hz(R 5‐19 ), resonance frequency(F res ), reactance at 5 Hz(X 5 ), area under the curve between F res and X 5 (AX), forced expiratory volume in 1 second(FEV 1 ), forced vital capacity(FVC), and FEV 1 /FVC. Descriptive statistics identified the proportion of successful tests, correlation in measurements, and rate of lung disease for each device. Results Among 76 subjects with 120 paired observations, 95% and 71% of participants successfully performed oscillometry and spirometry, respectively, at home visit one. 98% and 77% successfully performed oscillometry and spirometry, respectively, at home visit two. Odds ratios favored oscillometry (range 5.31–10.13, p < 0.01). FEV 1 correlated with AX (correlation coefficient r = −0.27, p = 0.03); FEV 1 /FVC with AX ( r = −0.32, p = 0.02); and FEV 1 /FVC with R 5 ( r = −0.37, p = 0.01). AX exhibited the highest prevalence of abnormality at 25%; other oscillometry parameters ranged from 5%–22%. Forty‐five to sixty‐four percent of participants had abnormal spirometry. Oscillometry assessments had significantly lower odds of capturing lung disease (odds ratios 0.07–0.24, p < 0.0001). Conclusions School‐aged children with BPD demonstrated higher success rates in field‐based oscillometry than spirometry. Spirometry exhibited higher rates of abnormality than oscillometry. Moderate correlation exists between device measurements.