Accuracy and Quality of Spirometry in Primary Care Offices

Abstract

Most spirometers tested were not accurate. The magnitude of the errors resulted in significant changes in the categorization of patients with obstruction. Acceptable-quality tests were produced for only 60% of patients. Our results raise concerns regarding the utility of spirometry obtained in primary care offices without greater attention to quality assurance and training.

Augmenting autophagy for prognosis based intervention of COPD-pathophysiology

“…Thus, early detection of emphysematous changes would significantly assist in the timely head start of the currently available treatments such as corticosteroids, bronchodilators or the proposed autophagy augmentation strategy. Although, recent advances in emphysema detection methods and research aimed towards developing novel biomarkers has improved the possibility of early emphysema detection and therapeutic intervention, these techniques still lack the required accuracy and high-throughput screening capabilities [14]. Thus, clinical prognosis of COPD-emphysema still heavily relies on pulmonary function testing using spirometry [15], and no laboratory based precise diagnostic test exists for the early detection of COPD-emphysema initiation, especially in subjects who are smokers without any noticeable signs of lung function decline [16], such as shortness of breath (or dyspnea).…”

“…Thus, clinical prognosis of COPD-emphysema still heavily relies on pulmonary function testing using spirometry [15], and no laboratory based precise diagnostic test exists for the early detection of COPD-emphysema initiation, especially in subjects who are smokers without any noticeable signs of lung function decline [16], such as shortness of breath (or dyspnea). Although PFT/spirometry are quite robust in detection of airflow obstruction, they lack the sensitivity to quantify minimal early changes in pulmonary function [14]. Moreover, PFT procedure needs complete patient support that is sometimes unachievable especially in a sick subject.…”

Determining the optimal approach to identifying individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: The DOC study

“…However, the overall error rate (ie, poor quality blows) of 51.4% is comparable or lower than can be found in other studies, 12,25 one of which also identified that poor quality spirometry was higher among men compared with women. 20 There are studies which have previously identified shortfalls in the quality of primary care spirometry 26 ; hence, in that sense, our study could be said to be reflecting the real world of general practice. Originally, our study set out to recruit 600 participants and recruited 681 in total.…”

Linking COPD epidemiology with pediatric asthma care: Implications for the patient and the physician

“…25,26 In many specialized research centers, it is feasible to conduct high-quality spirometry in children as young as 3 years. 27,28 Translation of spirometry from a specialized test conducted in pulmonary function laboratories to the primary care setting has had mixed results, 29,30 especially for children for whom extra patience and a friendly environment are necessary to obtain reliable measurements. Early deficits in lung function may already be present by the time objective measurements of lung function are feasible to obtain, which represents yet another challenge.…”