• Juan Wisnivesky, Gwen Skloot, Andrew Rundle, Tracey A Revenson, and Alfred Neugut.
• MD, DrPH, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, USA.
• Aust Fam Physician. 2014 Jul 1; 43 (7): 463-7.

BackgroundScreening spirometry might help identify patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at an earlier stage. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of airway obstruction in a cohort of asymptomatic smokers who underwent spirometry as part of a routine health maintenance examination.MethodsThe study cohort consisted of a consecutive sample of 386 asymptomatic smokers (≥5 pack-years) without a history of COPD or asthma, who completed spirometry testing as part of a routine health maintenance examination.ResultsOverall, 9 study subjects (2.3%, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-4.4%) had evidence of airway obstruction on spirometry. Univariate and multiple regression analyses showed that the risk of airway obstruction was not significantly associated with age, sex, race, smoking history or past history of respiratory symptoms.DiscussionSpirometry screening of asymptomatic smokers may help detect a small number of patients with airway obstruction who are at high risk for COPD.

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