Abstract
The American Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society commissioned a task force to update the technical standards for spirometry testing with the aim of increasing the accuracy, precision, and quality of spirometry measurements and improving the patient experience.
To inform the task force with patient experiences, European Lung Foundation, in collaboration with the task force, conducted an online survey in 10 languages between August and September 2018.
There were 1760 respondents from 52 countries. The majority were adults (97.1%) and the most common reasons for spirometry referral were diagnosis (35.5%) and management of an ongoing condition (60.9%). 53.2% reported regularly using inhalers.
Respondents were very experienced with spirometry: 89.9% completed more than one test; 48% completed 10 or more tests. However, most reported not knowing what FEV1 means (59.4%) and only 39.6% knew their most recent FEV1; the exception was respondents with cystic fibrosis (CF) who reported much greater knowledge.
Respondents rated as moderately or seriously problematic: being told to keep blowing when they felt nothing is coming out (31.4%), coughing (30.4%), tiredness (26.3%) and concern about shortness of breath (20.1%).
Overall, respondents found spirometry to be acceptable, however an important minority (17%) find it difficult. Patients want clear information before, during and after the test, including information on stopping medications. Operators have an important role in increasing the ease of patients, and changes to the testing environment can increase patient comfort. Patients want access to their results and want to understand how they relate to their individual health.
Footnotes
This manuscript has recently been accepted for publication in the ERJ Open Research. It is published here in its accepted form prior to copyediting and typesetting by our production team. After these production processes are complete and the authors have approved the resulting proofs, the article will move to the latest issue of the ERJOR online. Please open or download the PDF to view this article.
Conflict of interest: B. Johnson was an employee of the European Lung Foundation during the conduct of the study.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Steenbruggen has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: Dr. Graham has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: C. Coleman is an employee of the European Lung Foundation.
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- Received September 30, 2020.
- Accepted November 13, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020
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