Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Volume 162, Number 3, September 2000, 917-919

FEV₆ Is an Acceptable Surrogate for FVC in the Spirometric Diagnosis of Airway Obstruction and Restriction

MAUREEN P. SWANNEY, ROBERT L. JENSEN, DAVID A. CRICHTON, LUTZ E. BECKERT, LAUREN A. CARDNO, and ROBERT O. CRAPO

Canterbury Health Ltd., Respiratory Physiology Laboratory, Clinical Services Block, Christchurch Hospital, Christchurch, New Zealand; and Pulmonary Division, and Department of Medicine, LDS Hospital and University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, Utah

We analyzed the FEV₁/FEV₆ and FEV₁/FVC results of 502 consecutive patients in the spirometric diagnosis of airway obstruction. We also examined the agreement between FEV₆ and FVC in the spirometric diagnosis of restriction. Technically acceptable test results were obtained from 337 subjects (67%). The sensitivity of FEV₁/FEV₆ for diagnosing airway obstruction as defined by FEV₁/ FVC was 95.0%; the specificity was 97.4%. When interpretations differed, the measured values were all close to the lower limits of the reference ranges. When analysis included ± 100-ml variability in FEV₁ and FEV₆, the sensitivity increased to 99.5% and the specificity to 100%. The reproducibility of FEV₆ was superior to that of FVC. These results suggest that FEV₆ is an accurate, reliable alternative to FVC for diagnosing airway obstruction and that FEV₆ is reasonably comparable to FVC for the spirometric diagnosis of restriction. FEV₆ is more reproducible and less physically demanding for patients.

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