Assessing the efficacy of spirometry for smoking cessation.
Year: 2007
Type: letter
Abstract: In a recent issue of Thorax Bednarek et al 1 presented interesting results from a large-scale prospective cohort study on the effect of combining spirometric tests with simple smoking cessation advice in 3077 middle-aged smokers with previously undetected airflow obstruction compared with smokers without airflow obstruction. Carbon monoxide-validated smoking cessation rates after 12 months of follow-up were 16% in subjects with airflow obstruction and 12% in smokers without airflow obstruction. These results are promising; however, we think that the authors’ conclusion that spirometric screening of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is effective in smoking cessation is too far-reaching because of the limitations of the study design.
The conclusion by Bednarek et al 1 that spirometry is efficacious in smoking cessation is limited by the fact that their study was not a randomised controlled trial but a prospective cohort study comparing smokers with previously undetected airflow obstruction …
Source: PubMed
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1902864289