Abstract

Background: Smoking is known as the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In COPD, most of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) those indicating the diameter of airways are reduced. There are reports that bronchodilator drugs have no or a very little effect on PFT of COPD patients. Aims &
Objective: PFTs of smokers were compared with those of non-smokers and the effect of bronchodilator inhaler (salbutamol) on PFTs of smokers was also examined.
Materials and Methods: Pulmonary function tests were measured in 100 male smokers (height 171.71 ± 6.68 cm, age 36.49 ± 13.06 years old) and compared with 100 male nonsmokers (height 171.79 ± 8.81 cm, age 35.56 ± 12.83 years old). The subjects underwent measurement of spirometric flow and volume. The following variables were measured: forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), maximal mid-expiratory flow (MMEF), peak expiratory flow (PEF), maximal expiratory flow at 75%, 50%, and 25% of the FVC (MEF75, MEF50, and MEF25 respectively). In addition, pulmonary function tests of 33 male smokers (height 172.79 ± 11.94 cm, age 38.30 ± 6.65 years old) before and 10 minutes after administration of 200 μg salbutamol inhaler were measured.
Results: Most values of PFTs in smokers were significantly lower than those of non-smokers (p