Graduation Year

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.S.P.H.

Degree Granting Department

Public Health

Major Professor

Stuart Brooks, M.D.

Committee Member

Rony Francois, M.D., M.S.P.H., Ph.D.

Committee Member

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

Committee Member

Thomas Truncale, M.D., M.S.P.H.

Keywords

African descent, Caucasian, Male, Non-parametric, Generalizability

Abstract

The air that humans exhale contains various chemical markers whose levels have been associated with various respiratory disorders. Therefore, measurement of these markers offers a potential method of examining airway disease status. Furthermore, exhaled breath offers the advantage of being easy to collect and non-invasive. Hence, these exhaled breath markers are potentially of significant clinical use in examining airways. Therefore, examination of exhaled breath has become the subject of intense study. Current research is targeting the development of methods and parameters for looking at these markers.

The goal of this cross-sectional pilot study was to consider the variability in the measurement of these exhaled breath markers between members of different ethnic populations. Specifically, measurements of the exhaled breath marker Nitric Oxide (NO) were compared between two ethnic groups (Caucasian men versus men of African descent). Ten healthy men in each group were studied to examine whether baseline NO measurements differed between them.

In this study, a cross-sectional design was used. The study sample consisted of young, healthy men with no history of environmental allergies, asthma, or lung diseases and no significant smoking history. A total of twenty-five men volunteered for the study, including fourteen men of Caucasian descent and eleven men of African descent. Because four men were excluded and one withdrew, ten men in each ethnic group were included in the final analysis.

The source population from which the sample was drawn included students and workers. All participants were residing in Florida at the time of study. Ideally, the target population for this study was young, healthy, working men.

Large inter-measurement variation was seen between the participants of each ethnic group. This was hypothesized to be attributed to a tri-modal distribution due to the existence of 3 populations of subjects: (1) asymptomatic with normal airways, where NO levels were under 30 parts per billion (ppb); (2) asymptomatic with airway pathology, where NO levels were over 30 ppb; and (3) asymptomatic just before the onset of an upper respiratory tract infection, where NO levels were over 60 ppb.

This pilot study did not find statistically significant evidence that there is a difference in the baseline exhaled breath NO measurements between the two ethnic groups studied. Nonetheless, in participants with NO levels under 30 ppb the mean of the African group was found to be 7.6 ppb lower than the mean of the Caucasian group when attempts were made to exclude individuals with underlying airway pathology or imminent upper respiratory tract infection.

In order to find statistical significance in the results, a power analysis using the standard deviation of 7.7 ppb that was found in this study indicates that at least thirty-two eligible participants with NO levels under 30 ppb would be required. Only 13 such participants were examined in this study, Thus, at least fifty eligible participants would be required to find significant results.

The implication is that even though statistical significance was not achieved, the crude mean averages differed between the two groups in participants with NO levels under 30 ppb. This implies that a larger-scale well-designed study is warranted before NO is used in clinical settings in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients.

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