Abstract
to raise public awareness of the importance of early detection of airway obstruction (AO) and to enable many people who had not been tested previously to have their lung function measured, the European Lung Foundation (ELF) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) organized the Spirometry Tent during the annual ERS Congresses 2004–2009.
Spirometry was performed during the ERS congresses in volunteers; all participants answered a simple brief questionnaire on their descriptive characteristics, smoking and asthma. Portable spirometers were freely provided by the manufacturer. Nurses and doctors from pulmonary departments of local hospital/universities gave their service for free. Lower limit of normal (LLN) and GOLD criteria for diagnosing and grading AO were used.
of 12448 participants in six congress cities, 10395 (83.5%) performed acceptable spirometry (mean age 51.0±18.4 years; 25.5% smokers; 5.5% asthmatic). AO was present in 12.4% of investigated subjects according to LLN criterion and 20.3% according to GOLD criterion. Through multinomial logistic regression analysis, age, smoking habits and asthma were significant risk factors for AO. Relative risk ratio and 95% confidence interval for LLN stage I, for example, was: 2.9 (2.0–4.1) for the youngest age (≤19 yrs), 1.9 (1.2–3.0) for the oldest age (≥80 yrs), 2.4 (2.0–2.9) for current smokers, 2.8 (2.2–3.6) for reported asthma diagnosis.
the Spirometry Tent, in addition to being a useful advocacy tool, represents an unusual occasion for early detection of AO in large numbers of city residents with an important public health perspective.
- ERS
