A small proportion of people with asthma may benefit from peak flow monitoring.
This standardised peak flow chart allows the doctor and the person with asthma to recognise the pattern of that person's asthma over time and to identify flare-ups early.
Measurement of peak expiratory flow gives an idea of how narrow or obstructed a person's airways are by measuring the maximum (or peak) rate at which they can blow air into a peak flow meter after a deep breath.
Peak flow monitoring helps measure how much, and when, the airways are changing.
Due to the wide range of ‘normal' values and high degree of variability, peak flow is not the recommended test to identify asthma. However, it can be useful in some circumstances.
A small proportion of people with asthma may benefit from regular peak flow monitoring. When monitoring is recommended, it is usually done in addition to reviewing asthma symptoms and frequency of reliever medication use.
When peak flow is being monitored regularly, the results may be recorded on a peak flow chart.
It is important to use the same peak flow meter every time.
Peak flow monitoring is not recommended for children under 12 years.
The peak flow chart is available as a two-page document in PDF format for easy download and use.
The first page includes easy-to-follow instructions for entering the peak flow measurements. Each page on this chart holds 8 weeks of peak flow readings.
The pages should be printed single-sided for easy reference.
