Archivos de bronconeumología
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Arch. Bronconeumol. · Oct 2000
Comparative Study[Development and results of a screening program for COPD in primary care. The PADOC Project(Program for the Increase in the Diagnosis of COPD in Primary Care].
Several studies have shown that up to 75% of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remain undiagnosed. Early diagnosis of such individuals will allow appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures to be prescribed. The PADOC project aimed to determine the efficacy of a COPD screening program for Spanish primary care settings. ⋯ We conclude that primary care screening for COPD is possible and would allow us to detect up to 22% of possible cases. Patient flow from one level of clinical care to another should be improved, given that most of the possible cases detected (61.6%) were not seen by the referral pneumologist. Agreement between spirometric measurements taken by primary care physicians and pneumologists was low for FVC but good for FEV1.