Pulmonary function testing in a general medical practice.
This study examined the feasibility and yield of spirometric screening in a general medicine clinic. Each of 354 randomly selected patients answered a questionnaire on respiratory symptoms and performed pulmonary function tests. Pulmonary testing required approximately two minutes and cost 95 cents per patient. Former smokers who stopped smoking because of symptoms displayed a higher prevalence of abnormalities than expected, and life-long smokers a lower prevalence (P less than 0.001). Fifty-three percent of current smokers had an abnormal pulmonary function test, and forty-two percent of these had no severe pulmonary symptoms. Pulmonary function tests performed in an outpatient clinic are rapid and expensive. Such tests demonstrate a large number of abnormalities which can be used to encourage smoking cessation.
D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008176:Lung Volume Measurements; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D012907:Smoking; D013147:Spirometry / Q000379:methods*