PEAK EXPIRATORY FLOW RATE DURING VARIOUS PHASES OF MENSTRUAL CYCLE IN ASTHMATICS PRESENTING TO A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE

Introduction: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory lung disease characterized by airway hyper responsiveness and reversible airway obstruction. Worsening of asthma symptoms and pulmonary functions in relation to menstruation has been documented by some authors. Objectives: To determine peak expiratory flow rate during various phases of menstrual cycle among adult asthmatic women. Methods: A Prospective studyof1 year duration (July 2020 to June2021) A consecutive series of 100 patients with asthma, attending the outpatient clinic of department of chest diseases, satisfying inclusion criteria were included in the study. The socio demographic details and the relevant clinical details was collected using the socio demographic Performa prepared specifically for the study, Patients asked to record asthma symptom scores, morning Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (m-PEFR) (best out of 3 readings taken) daily during the one month screening period to identify women with and without pre-menstrual asthma Results And Discussion: From our study we found highest mean PEFR value is during post ovulatory phase. Lowest during perimenstrual phase. Fall in PEFR seen mostly during perimenstrual phase (43%). Then during preovulatory phase (34%). No such fall seen during periovulatory and postovulatory phase. Severe symptoms were present during perimenstrual phase (19%) and preovulatory phase (14%) only. Similarly, moderate symptoms also during perimenstrual (22%) and preovulatory phase (21%). Both severe and moderate symptoms were not seen during periovulatory and postovulatory phase. Conclusion: Premenstrual exacerbation of asthma occurs in a significant proportion of female adult asthmatics. Thus proper history including menstrual variation of asthma of all these patients should be taken for effective management.