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Lung Function

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

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Synonyms

Pulmonary function

Definition

Lung function is measured by various tests, including the pulmonary function test (PFT), arterial blood gases (ABG) analysis, and oxygen desaturation during exercise. These tests can evaluate symptoms and signs of lung disease, reveal the cause of breath shortness, and may help confirm lung diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD). They are also useful for monitoring the progression of lung disease or evaluating the risk of surgery in the preoperative patients (ATS Committee on Proficiency Standards for Clinical Pulmonary Function Laboratories, 2002; American Thoracic Society, 1995; Crapo, 1994; Hughes & Pride, 1999; Hyatt, Scanlon, & Nakamura, 1997).

Pulmonary function tests include spirometry and the quantitation of lung volume and diffusing capacity. Spirometry is in widespread use, because it takes 10–15 min without any risk. It measures mainly forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1.0) and forced vital capacity...

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References and Readings

  • American Thoracic Society. (1995). Standardization of spirometry – 1994 update. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 152, 1107.

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  • ATS Committee on Proficiency Standards for Clinical Pulmonary Function Laboratories. (2002). ATS statement: Guidelines for the six-minute walk test. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 166, 111.

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  • Crapo, R. O. (1994). Pulmonary-function testing. The New England Journal of Medicine, 331, 25.

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  • Hughes, J. M. B., & Pride, N. B. (1999). Lung function tests: Physiological principles and clinical applications. London: WB Saunders.

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  • Hyatt, R. E., Scanlon, P. D., & Nakamura, M. (1997). Interpretation of pulmonary function tests. A practical guide. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Respiratory Medicine, Mitsui Memorial Hospital, 1, Kanda-Izumi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-0024, Japan

    Dr. Akihisa Mitani

Authors
  1. Dr. Akihisa Mitani
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Correspondence to Akihisa Mitani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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Mitani, A. (2013). Lung Function. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1238

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1238

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

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