“…28,29 However, findings of a 2-year, multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial in patients with COPD of GOLD stage I or II in China showed a significant and clinically relevant higher FEV 1 in patients assigned tiotropium than in those allocated placebo. 30 Moreover, for the population with at least one risk factor or respiratory symptom, evidence suggests that screening by spirometry has changed management and outcomes related to COPD. 1,29 Even when spirometry is not available, an alternative nine-item discriminant function model-ie, age, sex, BMI, smoking index, wheezing, cough, dyspnoea, living environment, and occupational exposure-for peak expiratory flow measurement as a screening method achieved a sensitivity of 89% and specificity of 82% in a Chinese general population.…”