HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (2) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Pellegrino, R. Articles by Ardia, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Pellegrino, R. Articles by Ardia, A.

Quality control of spirometry: a lesson from the BRONCUS trial

¹ Centro di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria e di Studio della Dispnea , Azienda Ospedaliera S Croce e Carle, Cuneo, and ⁵ Respiratory Division, Ospedale Rasori Parma, Parma, and ⁶ Servizio di Pneumologia, Azienda Ospedaliera "G. Rummo", Benevento, and ⁸ Zambon Group, Bresso-Milano, Milan, Italy. ² Respiratory Division, University Hospital, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, and ⁷ University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium. ³ Dept of General Practice, Maastricht University, Maastricht, and ⁴ Dept of Pulmonary Diseases, University Medical Centre Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

CORRESPONDENCE: R. Pellegrino, Centro di Fisiopatologia Respiratoria e di Studio della Dispnea, Azienda Ospedaliera S. Croce e Carle, 12100 Cuneo, Italy. Fax: 39 0171616798. E-mail: pellegrino.r{at}ospedale.cuneo.it

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, N-acetylcysteine, quality control, spirometry

Received: March 7, 2005
Accepted August 1, 2005

This report describes the quality control programme used within the Bronchitis Randomized on N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Cost-Utility Study, a trial designed to assess the decline in lung function, exacerbation rate, health status, and cost-effectiveness with NAC or a placebo in 523 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over a 3-yr period.

Spirometry was scored from 0 (worst quality) to 6 (best quality). The mean score of 314 spirometries from 243 patients evaluated during the trial was 5.63±0.83. Linear regression analysis of the scores of 47 participating centres plotted against the time at which spirometries were performed yielded an intercept of 5.7±0.5 and a slope of -0.0001±0.001, which suggests that the initial high quality was maintained over time.

Retrospective examination of a further 345 postbronchodilator spirometries from 208 patients with a forced expiratory volume at one second exceeding the mean individual value recorded over the study in excess of 20% revealed a slightly lower quality of the start-of-test manoeuvre compared with the 314 spirometries.

In conclusion, these findings would suggest that the quality control programme is likely to have helped achieve and maintain long-term spirometry performance in the Bronchitis Randomized on N-acetylcysteine (NAC) Cost-Utility Study trial. Special care should be paid to the spirometries whose forced expiratory volume in one second values exceed the mean value.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. A. Bankier, C. R. O'Donnell, and P. M. Boiselle Quality Initiatives * Respiratory Instructions for CT Examinations of the Lungs: A Hands-on Guide RadioGraphics, July 1, 2008; 28(4): 919 - 931. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]