BackgroundIn chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the response of the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) after bronchodilator application is weak. Inspiratory parameters like the forced inspiratory volume in 1 second (FIV1) and inspiratory capacity (IC) can be responsive to bronchodilators. In an individual patient with COPD, a significant bronchodilator response must at least exceed the random variation for that parameter. Therefore, it is important that the type of scatter is homoscedastic, as the chance of underestimating or overestimating the random variation for low or high parameter values is minimized. The aim of this study is to investigate the random variation (type and quantity) of inspiratory parameters.
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