Effect of gender and body mass index on pulmonary function tests in adolescents of tribal population of a north eastern state of India.

The present study was planned to assess the pulmonary function in tribal adolescents (age 12-16 yrs) of Tripura, a north eastern state of India, and to evaluate the effect of body mass index (BMI) on pulmonary functions of male and female subjects from tribal population. One hundred and seventeen male and seventy female subjects were selected for the study through a randomized method of sampling. Pulmonary function parameter recorded were forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expired volume in 1 second (FEV1), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and maximal expiratory pressure (MEP). Values of all the pulmonary function parameters recorded in female subjects were found to be lower than the male subjects. FVC, FEV1, PEFR, MEP recorded in subjects from both the sexes correlated significantly with BMI. The results of the study provide basic data on pulmonary function parameters of tribal adolescents from Tripura.