TY - JOUR
T1 - The European Respiratory Society spirometry tent
T2 - A unique form of screening for airway obstruction
AU - Maio, Sara
AU - Sherrill, Duane L.
AU - MacNee, William
AU - Lange, Peter
AU - Costabel, Ulrich
AU - Dahlén, Sven Erik
AU - Sybrecht, Gerhard W.
AU - Burghuber, Otto C.
AU - Stevenson, Robin
AU - Tønnesen, Philip
AU - Haeussinger, Karl
AU - Hedlin, Gunilla
AU - Bauer, Torsten T.
AU - Riedler, Josef
AU - Nicod, Laurent
AU - Carlsen, Kai Håkon
AU - Viegi, Giovanni
PY - 2012/6/1
Y1 - 2012/6/1
N2 - In order to raise public awareness of the importance of early detection of airway obstruction and to enable many people who had not been tested previously to have their lung function measured, the European Lung Foundation and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) organised a spirometry testing tent during the annual ERS Congresses in 2004-2009. Spirometry was performed during the ERS Congresses in volunteers; all participants answered a simple, brief questionnaire on their descriptive characteristics, smoking and asthma. Portable spirometers were freely provided by the manufacturer. Nurses and doctors from pulmonary departments of local hospitals/universities gave their service for free. Lower limit of normal (LLN) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria for diagnosing and grading airway obstruction were used. Of 12,448 participants in six congress cities, 10,395 (83.5%) performed acceptable spirometry (mean age 51.0±18.4 yrs; 25.5% smokers; 5.5% asthmatic). Airway obstruction was present in 12.4% of investigated subjects according to LLN criteria and 20.3% according to GOLD criteria. Through multinomial logistic regression analysis, age, smoking habits and asthma were significant risk factors for airway obstruction. Relative risk ratio and 95% confidence interval for LLN stage I, for example, was 2.9 (2.0-4.1) for the youngest age (≤19 yrs), 1.9 (1.2-3.0) for the oldest age (≥80 yrs), 2.4 (2.0-2.9) for current smokers and 2.8 (2.2-3.6) for reported asthma diagnosis. In addition to being a useful advocacy tool, the spirometry tent represents an unusual occasion for early detection of airway obstruction in large numbers of city residents with an important public health perspective. Copyright
AB - In order to raise public awareness of the importance of early detection of airway obstruction and to enable many people who had not been tested previously to have their lung function measured, the European Lung Foundation and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) organised a spirometry testing tent during the annual ERS Congresses in 2004-2009. Spirometry was performed during the ERS Congresses in volunteers; all participants answered a simple, brief questionnaire on their descriptive characteristics, smoking and asthma. Portable spirometers were freely provided by the manufacturer. Nurses and doctors from pulmonary departments of local hospitals/universities gave their service for free. Lower limit of normal (LLN) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria for diagnosing and grading airway obstruction were used. Of 12,448 participants in six congress cities, 10,395 (83.5%) performed acceptable spirometry (mean age 51.0±18.4 yrs; 25.5% smokers; 5.5% asthmatic). Airway obstruction was present in 12.4% of investigated subjects according to LLN criteria and 20.3% according to GOLD criteria. Through multinomial logistic regression analysis, age, smoking habits and asthma were significant risk factors for airway obstruction. Relative risk ratio and 95% confidence interval for LLN stage I, for example, was 2.9 (2.0-4.1) for the youngest age (≤19 yrs), 1.9 (1.2-3.0) for the oldest age (≥80 yrs), 2.4 (2.0-2.9) for current smokers and 2.8 (2.2-3.6) for reported asthma diagnosis. In addition to being a useful advocacy tool, the spirometry tent represents an unusual occasion for early detection of airway obstruction in large numbers of city residents with an important public health perspective. Copyright
KW - Airway obstruction
KW - General population
KW - Global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease criteria
KW - Lower limit of normal criteria
KW - Screening
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U2 - 10.1183/09031936.00111910
DO - 10.1183/09031936.00111910
M3 - Article
C2 - 22267757
AN - SCOPUS:84861872261
SN - 0903-1936
VL - 39
SP - 1458
EP - 1467
JO - European Respiratory Journal
JF - European Respiratory Journal
IS - 6
ER -