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Peak flow rate

Authoring team

The PEFR is the maximum rate of airflow that can be achieved during a sudden forced expiration form a position of full inspiration.

The good points about PEFR are:

  • the PEFR reflects the calibre of the airways and is most useful for day-to-day monitoring of asthma
  • the PEFR device is cheap and convenient

The bad points about PEFR are that the value depends on:

  • effort
  • technique

Also PEFR is a measure of airflow and cannot detect restrictive ventilatory defects, such as those caused by pulmonary fibrosis, since these reduce lung volume but do not affect airflow (1).

Reference:

  1. The Practitioner 2005; 249:180-88.

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