What does tactile fremitus assess during a respiratory assessment?

Tactile fremitus is a clinical assessment technique used to evaluate vibrations transmitted through the lung tissues when a patient speaks. When a clinician places their hands on the patient’s chest and has the patient repeat a phrase, the tactile fremitus allows the clinician to assess the presence and intensity of these vibrations over various lung fields. Increased or decreased fremitus can indicate underlying lung conditions. For instance, conditions such as pneumonia may cause increased vibrations due to the consolidation of lung tissue, while conditions like pleural effusion or pneumothorax can lead to decreased fremitus due to the presence of fluid or air in the pleural space.

This assessment is crucial because changes in tactile fremitus can signal important alterations in lung health that may require further investigation or intervention. The other options, while relevant to respiratory assessment, do not specifically pertain to what tactile fremitus measures. For example, abilities to take deep breaths, lung expansion, or oxygenation status are primarily evaluated using different assessment techniques such as auscultation, visual inspection, or pulse oximetry.