Graduation Year

2004

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.P.H.

Degree Granting Department

Public Health

Major Professor

Stuart Brooks, M.D.

Committee Member

Robert Haight, M.D., M.S.P.H.

Committee Member

Philip Roets, Sc.D.

Keywords

impulse, oscillometry, spirometry, IOS, pulmonary, methylxanthine

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of caffeine on airway resistance. The subjects were drawn from volunteers (18-90 years old) in good health, with no major cardiopulmonary conditions.

We found no association between the consumption of a single cup of the caffeinated beverage coffee and a decrease in airway resistance within one hour in a normal sample of subjects as measured by impulse oscillometry nor with conventional spirometry . It appears that any possible bronchodilatory effect of the caffeine from a single cup of coffee in a normal population is below the limit of detection of spirometry and impulse oscillometry or is not sufficiently expressed in the one hour time frame of the study.

The study did validate currently accepted methods of using the Jaeger impulse oscillometry (IOS) measurement for use at the University of South Florida (USF). The impulse oscillometry technique was found to be a useful adjunct to conventional pulmonary function testing. Conventional pulmonary function testing provides a useful measure of a person's ability to breathe yet is difficult to perform and only indirectly guides the physician to the diagnosis of the pathology behind the person's breathing difficulties. The impulse oscillometry technique may help the physician to noninvasively determine the location of a pulmonary obstruction by measurement of the dynamics of sound wave travel through the airways of the lungs.

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