Outcomes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosed with or without pulmonary function testing.

Outcomes of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease diagnosed with or without pulmonary function testing.
CMAJ. 2017 Apr 10;189(14):E530-E538
Authors: Gershon A, Mecredy G, Croxford R, To T, Stanbrook MB, Aaron SD, Canadian Respiratory Research Network
Abstract
BACKGROUND: A small number of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) receive pulmonary function testing around the time of diagnosis. Because omitting testing increases misdiagnosis, we sought to determine whether health outcomes differed between patients whose COPD was diagnosed with or without pulmonary function testing.
METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal population study of patients with physician-diagnosed COPD from 2005 to 2012 using health administrative data from Ontario, Canada. We assessed whether having pulmonary function testing around the time of diagnosis was associated with the composite outcome of admission to hospital for COPD or all-cause death, using adjusted survival analysis.
RESULTS: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was diagnosed in 68 898 patients during the study period; 41.2% of patients received peridiagnostic pulmonary function testing. In adjusted analysis, patients who underwent testing were less likely to die or be admitted to hospital for COPD (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.91, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.89-0.94) and were more likely to be prescribed an inhaled long-acting bronchodilator than...

Source: cmaj - April 10, 2017 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Gershon A, Mecredy G, Croxford R, To T, Stanbrook MB, Aaron SD, Canadian Respiratory Research Network Tags: CMAJ Source Type: research