BACKGROUND _ OBJECTIVES: Pulmonary functions are used for diagnosis, assessment and clinical management of breathlessness, and, as epidemiological and research tools. In India the wide range of geographical and climatic conditions is associated with regional differences in lung functions. Most of the studies have restricted themselves to specific regions/ethnicities and a relatively short age span of 15-40 yr. The purpose of the present study is to fill these two lacunae by studying the pulmonary functions of the inmates (17-70 yr and of different ethnicities) of @entity3595 Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. METHODS: A total of 397 non-smoking, healthy individuals aged 17 to 70 yr (195 @entity1 , 202 @entity1 ) were investigated. The parameters measured included forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 sec (FEV1, FEV1%), peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) and @entity1168 ( @entity1168 ). The standing height and weight were also recorded. RESULTS: In both @entity1 and @entity1 , age showed significant negative correlations with all spirometric functions, the height showed significant positive correlations with all pulmonary function test (PFT) parameters except FEV1 per cent while the weight did not show any significant correlation with any of the parameters except PEF. @entity1 had significantly (P < 0.001) higher values than those of @entity1 for all parameters except FEV1 per cent. Prediction equations for all PFT parameters based on the age and height were derived for @entity1 and @entity1 . INTERPRETATION _ CONCLUSION: The ventilatory norms of both @entity1 and @entity1 based on age and height appear reliable for the FVC and FEV1. They can therefore be used to derive the normal values for healthy, non-smoking Indian adults between 17 and 70 yr. The coefficient for age obtained from the regression equations for FVC were found to be consistently smaller than those of others indicating that in the Ashram environment, age seems to have a lesser negative influence on pulmonary functions.

Pulmonary function studies in healthy non-smoking adults in XXXX Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['women', 'Men', 'men'] @entity3595 :: ('6717', 'Gene') :: ['Sri'] @entity1168 :: ('MESH:D001919', 'Disease') :: ['mean expiratory flow rate', 'MEF']
@entity3595 :: (6717,Gene) :: ['Sri']
