Ever Smoking is Not Associated with Performed Spirometry while Occupational Exposure and Respiratory Symptoms are

• Objective: Despite recommendations, assessment using spirometry or peak expiratory flow is insufficient in the clinical evaluation of suspected obstructive pulmonary disease. The aim was to investigate factors associated with performing spirometry or peak flow expiratory flow assessment.Methods: Randomly selected subjects from the general population aged 50-65 completed a respiratory questionnaire with items about the history of previously performed spirometry or peak expiratory flow. The association between ever having had spirometry or peak expiratory flow performed was analyzed for smoking, age, sex, occupational exposures, dyspnea, wheeze, self-reported physician diagnosed asthma and COPD using multivariable logistic regression models. The results are presented as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs).Results: Of the 1105 participants, 43.4% (n=479) had a history of previously performed spirometry or peak expiratory flow. Occupational exposure (OR 1.72, [95% CI] 1.30-2.27), wheeze (OR 2.29, 1.41-3.70), and dyspnea (OR 1.70, 1.11-2.60) were associated with previously performed spirometry. Compared to men, women had spirometry or peak expiratory flow performed less often (OR 0.67, 0.51-0.86). Neither current smoking (OR 0.83, 0.57-1.20) or former smoking (OR 1.27, 0.96-1.67) were associated with performed spirometry or peak expiratory flow.Conclusion: We found no relation between smoking status and a history of previously performed spirometry or peak expiratory flow in a population-based sample of middle-aged people. This is surprising regarding the strong guidelines which highlight the importance for spirometry surveillance on current smokers due to their increased risk of lung disease. Male sex, respiratory symptoms and occupational exposures to air pollution were associated with previously performed spirometry or peak expiratory flow. The association with occupational exposure may be an effect of pre-employment screening and workplace surveillance, and the findings indicate that females do not receive the same attention regarding spirometry or peak expiratory flow.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Lungmedicin och allergi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Respiratory Medicine and Allergy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

lung function test

spirometry and PEF

smoking

occupational exposure

respiratory symptoms

SCAPIS pilot

american thoracic society

copd

asthma

prevalence

diagnosis

misdiagnosis

management

adherence

accuracy

validity

Respiratory System

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