Skip to main content
. 2009 Dec 1;6(7):581–587. doi: 10.1513/pats.200905-030RM

TABLE 1.

COMPOSITE PULMONARY FUNCTION AND RESPIRATORY MUSCLE STRENGTH

Variable Continuous Value Achieving z Score
z Score = 0 z Score = 1
Pulmonary function
 FVC, L 1.88 2.51
 PEF, L/min 258 371
 FEV1, L 1.61 2.18
Respiratory muscle strength
 Maximal inspiratory pressure, mm H2O 41 62
 Maximal expiratory pressure, mm H2O 66 92

The composite pulmonary function measure was constructed by converting the raw score from the three spirometric measures (FVC, PEF, and FEV1) to z scores using the mean and standard deviation from all participants at baseline. The values in the table are approximations to the underlying measures that correspond to average performance at baseline (z = 0) and 1 SD better than average (z = 1). A similar procedure was employed to construct composite respiratory muscle strength based on MIP and MEP measures.