Clinical spirometry in normal Bantu.

Abstract

In recent years numerous surveys on pulmonary function tests in different American and European population groups have been reported (1-21). On the other hand, very few publications based exclusively on studies in non-Caucasian subjects have appeared and these have been limited to a few screening tests on small groups of subjects (22-29). In the previous report by the authors (30) it was found that vital capacity was smaller in Bantu men than in whites. The present study was undertaken to confirm or reject the previous findings in larger groups of Bantu men and women. It was also our aim to collect more comprehensive data relating to pulmonary function in the Bantu. It was thought that if the results of this study differed significantly from those found in white populations, it would be of practical importance to construct equations for predicting normal values for lung-function tests in the Bantu.