{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T13:18:23Z","timestamp":1785417503259,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1783641600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"University of Phayao and Thailand Science Research and Innovation Fund","award":["2264"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2264"]}]},{"award":["2264"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2264"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/000025p04","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) influences respiratory mechanics, ventilation distribution, and lung aeration. However, comparative responses to incremental PEEP among healthy individuals, cigarette smokers, electronic cigarette users, and individuals with asthma remain poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize differential respiratory responses to incremental PEEP across these populations. Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted using an open-access respiratory physiology dataset obtained from PhysioNet. Eighty adults were included and categorized into four groups (n = 20 per group): healthy controls, cigarette smokers, electronic cigarette users, and individuals with asthma. Airway pressure, respiratory flow, tidal volume, chest circumference, abdominal circumference, and global aeration were evaluated across incremental PEEP levels ranging from 4 to 12 cmH2O. Results: Increasing PEEP significantly affected all respiratory and aeration outcomes (all p &lt; 0.001). Significant Group \u00d7 PEEP interactions were observed for airway pressure (p &lt; 0.001), respiratory flow (p = 0.009), chest circumference (p = 0.002), and abdominal circumference (p = 0.005), indicating differential physiological responses among groups. In contrast, tidal volume (p = 0.067) and global aeration (p = 0.170) demonstrated similar response patterns across groups despite significant overall PEEP effects. Conclusions: Incremental PEEP significantly influenced respiratory mechanics, thoracoabdominal motion, and lung aeration. Respiratory responses differed among healthy controls, cigarette smokers, electronic cigarette users, and individuals with asthma, suggesting group-specific adaptations to increasing PEEP.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases14070248","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T13:16:28Z","timestamp":1783689388000},"page":"248","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Differential Respiratory Responses to Incremental Positive End-Expiratory Pressure Among Healthy Adults, Cigarette Smokers, Electronic Cigarette Users, and Individuals with Asthma"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2484-2996","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patchareeya","family":"Amput","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Phayao, Phayao 56000, Thailand"},{"name":"Unit of Excellence of Human Performance and Rehabilitations, University of Phayao, Phayao 56000, Thailand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6293-9273","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sirintip","family":"Kumfu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Phayao, Phayao 56000, Thailand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sirima","family":"Wongphon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Phayao, Phayao 56000, Thailand"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"327","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa032193","article-title":"Higher versus lower positive end-expiratory pressures in patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome","volume":"351","author":"Brower","year":"2004","journal-title":"N. 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