title: The reliability and utility of spirometry performed on people with asthma in community pharmacies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the reliability and the utility of spirometry generated by community pharmacists participating in two large asthma intervention trials of 892 people.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Pharmacy Asthma Care Program (PACP) and the Pharmacy Asthma Management Service (PAMS) involved up to four visits to the pharmacy over 6 months for counseling and goal setting. Pharmacists performed spirometry according to ATS/ERS guidelines to inform management. The proportion of A-E, F quality tests, as per EasyOne QC grades, were recorded. Lung function results between visits and for participants referred/not referred to their general practitioner on the basis of spirometry were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Complete data from 2593 spirometry sessions were recorded, 68.5% of spirometry sessions achieved three acceptable tests with between-test repeatability of 150 ml or less (A or B quality), 96% of spirometry sessions included at least one test that met ATS/ERS acceptability criteria. About 39.1% of participants had FEV1/FVC values below the lower limit of normal (LNN), indicating a respiratory obstruction. As a result of the service, there was a significant increase in FEV1 and FEV1/FVC and asthma control. Lung function values were significantly poorer for participants referred to their general practitioner, compared with those not referred, on the basis of spirometry.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Community pharmacists are able to reliably achieve spirometry results meeting ATS/ERS guidelines in people with asthma. Significant improvements in airway obstruction were demonstrated with the pharmacy services. Pharmacists interpreted lung function results to identify airway obstruction for referral, making this a useful technique for review of people with asthma in the community.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Science , Charles Sturt University , Orange , NSW , Australia .
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lei Burton
authors.affiliation: b Woolcock Institute, the University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .
authors.forename: Kate S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: LeMay
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .
authors.forename: Bandana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: b Woolcock Institute, the University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .|d Sydney Local Health District , Sydney , NSW , Australia .
authors.forename: Sinthia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bosnic-Anticevich
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biomedical Science , Charles Sturt University , Orange , NSW , Australia .
authors.forename: Phillipa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Southwell
authors.affiliation: e Faculty of Health, University of Canberra , Canberra , ACT , Australia .
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.affiliation: f School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University , Perth , Australia , and.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Emmerton
authors.affiliation: g Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University , Monash , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.affiliation: c Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krass
authors.affiliation: b Woolcock Institute, the University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reddel
authors.affiliation: b Woolcock Institute, the University of Sydney , Sydney , Australia .|d Sydney Local Health District , Sydney , NSW , Australia .
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Armour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D013147:Spirometry
keywords: Asthma; forced expiratory volume; pharmacy; program evaluation; spirometry