TY - JOUR T1 - International consensus on lung function testing during COVID-19 pandemic and beyond JF - ERJ Open Research JO - erjor DO - 10.1183/23120541.00602-2021 SP - 00602-2021 AU - Aisling McGowan AU - Pierantonio Laveneziana AU - Sam Bayat AU - Nicole Beydon AU - P. W. Boros AU - Felip Burgos AU - Matjaž Fležar AU - Monika Franczuk AU - Maria-Alejandra Galarza AU - Adrian H. Kendrick AU - Enrico Lombardi AU - Jellien Makonga-Braaksma AU - Meredith C. McCormack AU - Laurent Plantier AU - Sanja Stanojevic AU - Irene Steenbruggen AU - Bruce Thompson AU - Allan L. Coates AU - Jack Wanger AU - Donald W. Cockcroft AU - Bruce Culver AU - Karl Sylvester AU - Frans De Jongh Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/early/2021/11/11/23120541.00602-2021.abstract N2 - COVID-19 has negatively affected the delivery of respiratory diagnostic services across the world due to the potential risk of disease transmission during lung function testing. Community prevalence, reoccurrence of COVID-19 surges, and the emergence of different variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have impeded attempts to restore services. Finding consensus on how to deliver safe lung function services for both patients attending and for staff performing the tests are of paramount importance.This international statement presents the consensus opinion of 23 experts in the field of lung function and respiratory physiology balanced with evidence from the reviewed literature. It describes a robust roadmap for restoration and continuity of lung function testing services during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.Important strategies presented in this consensus statement relate to the patient journey when attending for lung function tests. We discuss appointment preparation, operational and environmental issues, testing room requirements including mitigation strategies for transmission risk, requirement for improved ventilation, maintaining physical distance, and use of personal protection equipment. We also provide consensus opinion on precautions relating to specific tests, filters, management of special patient groups, and alternative options to testing in hospitals.The pandemic has highlighted how vulnerable lung function services are and forces us to re-think how long term mitigation strategies can protect our services during this and any possible future pandemic. This statement aspires to address the safety concerns that exist and provide strategies to make lung function tests and the testing environment safer when tests are required.FootnotesThis 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: Ms. McGowan has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Laveneziana reports personal fees from NOVARTIS France, personal fees from CHIESI France, personal fees from BOEHRINGER France, outside the submitted work.Conflict of interest: Dr. BAYAT has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Beydon has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Boros has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Burgos reports and Scientific Advisory Board Medical Graphics Coorporation Diagnostics.Conflict of interest: Dr. Fležar has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Franczuk reports personal fees from AstraZeneca, personal fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, personal fees from Chiesi, outside the submitted work.Conflict of interest: Dr. GALARZA-JIMENEZ has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Kendrick has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Lombardi reports non-financial support from AbbVie, personal fees from Angelini, personal fees from Boehringer, personal fees and non-financial support from Chiesi, personal fees from GSK, non-financial support from Lusofarmaco, personal fees and non-financial support from Novartis, personal fees from Omron, grants and non-financial support from Restech, grants and personal fees from Sanofi, personal fees and non-financial support from Vertex, personal fees from Vifor, outside the submitted work.Conflict of interest: Ms. Makonga-Braaksma has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. McCormack reports royalties from UpToDate, personal fees from Vera Med, personal fees from Glaxo Smith Kline, personal fees from Celgene, outside the submitted work.Conflict of interest: Dr. Plantier has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Stanojevic has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Steenbruggen has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Thompson has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Coates has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Wanger has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Cockcroft reports and Medical advisory board Pharmaxis.Conflict of interest: Dr. Culver has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. Sylvester has nothing to disclose.Conflict of interest: Dr. de Jongh has nothing to disclose. 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