Pulmonary function among high school teenagers in Teluk Bahang, Penang, Malaysia

Healthy pulmonary function is an important marker of overall well-being. Evaluating pulmonary function is a vital tool for predicting and diagnosing morbidity, mortality, and general health status. The aim of this study is to assess and compare pulmonary function among male and female high school teenagers in Teluk Bahang, and to examine the relationship between peak flow rate and factors such as age, weight, height, and BMI. A cross-sectional study was conducted, with 137 high school adolescents aged 14 to 17 was recruited through convenience sampling. Using the Mini Wright Peak Flow Meter, pulmonary function measurements were taken. Independent t-test and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the data. For the results, there is significant difference in term of peak flow reading between gender (p<0.001) with male (393.49±105.16) higher than female (300±20). Besides, the is strong significant correlation between peak flow measurement and height of participant (r=0.689) compared to age (r=0.259) and weight (r=0.273) with just weak correlation. Otherwise, there is no correlation between peak flow and BMI (p=0.985). In conclusion, the reading of peak flow is significant when compared between male and female participants. Then, there are significant association between peak flow meter reading with age, weight and height. However, there is no association between peak flow and BMI reading.