Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Jun 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical TrialThe FEV1/FEV6 predicts lung function decline in adult smokers.
The use of FEV1/FEV6 in place of the traditional FEV1/FVC to detect airways obstruction during spirometry testing performed by primary care providers would reduce time and patient effort. We hypothesized that the FEV1/FEV6, would predict the subsequent decline in FEV1 in adult cigarette smokers who enrolled in the multicenter Lung Health Study. Ten clinical centers in the U. ⋯ The following covariates were significant independent predictors of DFEV1: the baseline degree of airways obstruction, age, gender, cigarettes per day, years of education, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. The FEV1/FEV6 was nearly as strong an independent predictor as was the FEV1/FVC (a traditional index of airways obstruction). The degree of airways obstruction, as determined by the FEV1/FEV6 from spirometry, is an independent predictor of subsequent decline in lung function; and therefore, may be used to detect smokers at higher risk of developing COPD.