BMJ  2008;336:1034 (10 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39556.492176.80

Letters

Lung age

Study’s conclusion about screening is unwarranted

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

Although Parkes et al’s study is interesting,¹ the only conclusion is that for asymptomatic smokers who undergo spirometry, communication about lung age is a more effective motivator for smoking cessation than providing patients with uninterpreted spirometry measurements. The study does not establish the independent motivational effectiveness of doing spirometry screening versus not doing it, which would require a randomised trial in which the control arm did not receive spirometry. Only two randomised controlled trials of this type have been conducted and both had negative results. For this and other reasons, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults (regardless of smoking status) should not be screened for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using spirometry.²

¹ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD 20850, USA

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Competing interests: None declared.

1. Parkes G, Greenhalgh T, Griffin M, Dent R. Effect on smoking quit rate of telling patients their lung age: the Step2quit randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2008;336:598-600. (15 March.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. US Preventive Services Task Force. Screening for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using spirometry: US preventive services task force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med 2008;148:529-34.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

Related Article

Effect on smoking quit rate of telling patients their lung age: the Step2quit randomised controlled trial

Gary Parkes, Trisha Greenhalgh, Mark Griffin, and Richard Dent
BMJ 2008 336: 598-600. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]