The European respiratory journal : official journal of the European Society for Clinical Respiratory Physiology
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Case-finding options for COPD: results from the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study.
This study aimed to compare strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) case finding using data from the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Population-based samples of adults aged ≥40 yrs (n = 9,390) from 14 countries completed a questionnaire and spirometry. We compared the screening efficiency of differently staged algorithms that used questionnaire data and/or peak expiratory flow (PEF) data to identify persons at risk for COPD and, hence, needing confirmatory spirometry. ⋯ Cost analysis suggested that a staged screening algorithm using only PEF initially, followed by confirmatory spirometry as needed, was the most cost-effective case-finding strategy. Our results support the use of PEF as a simple, cost-effective initial screening tool for conducting COPD case-finding in adults aged ≥40 yrs. These findings should be validated in real-world settings such as the primary care environment.