Pulmonary Function Of Adult Sabar Tribal Of Jhargram District,WEST BENGAL, INDIA

Background: Assessment of Pulmonary Function has been used as a clinical tool in diagnosis, management, and follow-up of different respiratory disorders. Ethnic-specific standard norms in the form of regression Equations are necessary for a good interpretation of these parameters. But equations for a tribal population mainly Sabar tribal population is not available till now. Method: 55 males and 48 females sabar tribal adults were taken randomly from Sabar villages of Jhargram District of West Bengal. The standard procedure was followed for the measurement of the physical and Pulmonary function parameters. Prevalence ofrespiratory abnormalities, smoking habits, socio-demographic pattern, the occupation was recorded by a standard questionnaire. Results: All the Physical and Pulmonary function parameters of female sabartribes are significantly (p<0.01) lower than male sabar tribes .3.7% male and 3.5% femalesabar showed CED II level nutritional status and 7.5% male and 14% female sabar focused CED I level nutritional deficiency. Percentage prevalence of respiratory abnormalities reported that 8% female and 16% male (mostly smoker)have restrictive lung disease.6% of male and 4% of female sabar tribes have obstructive lung diseases. Comparison of FVC and FEV1 values of a male and female tribal adult with people of different regions of India revealed that sabar tribal adults are significantly lower than people of other parts of India except for values of female adults of North Eastern region. A similar result has been found in PEFR when values for the tribal population are compared with national and international.But a comparison of the FEV1 value of sabar tribal adult when made with international standard, a similar result has been found except Filipino and Malaysian male adult where lower values were found. Conclusion: From this study, it can be concluded that people from different ethnic backgrounds and different parts of a country with different socio-economic conditions need separate prediction equations for lung function parameters. Thus prediction equations for adult male and female sabar tribal population will be helpful in the diagnosis of respiratory disorder and monitoring the condition of the lung.