Objective To
survey the
prevalence of the
pulmonary function test in Liaoning province and investigate the
cognition of
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(
COPD)
patients to the test.
Methods One hundred and twenty nine comprehensive
hospitals of Grade Three and Grade Two have been included to
survey the
prevalence of the
pulmonary function test by
telephone.A
cross-sectional study was carried out among 206
COPD outpatients to investigate their
cognition to the
pulmonary function test.Results The total
prevalence of the
hospitals with the
equipment and
ability to do
pulmonary function tests was only 51.2%.The
prevalence of the
hospitals of Grade Three(79.4%)was higher than that of the
hospitals of Grade Two(24.2%).In 206
COPD patients,100 cases(48.5%)had been provided with
pulmonary function test,53 cases(25.73%)had been diagnosed as
COPD in the past.The
patients diagnosed as
COPD accounted for 33.8% of all
chronic bronchitis patients surveyed.The span during the
diagnosis of
chronic bronchitis and the definitive
diagnosis of
COPD was 11.79±10.96 years.Conclusion The
prevalence of
pulmonary function test in Liaoning province is relatively low,especially in the comprehensive
hospitals of Grade Two.Few
chronic bronchitis patients received
pulmonary function test.Thus the
time span from the
diagnosis of
chronic bronchitis to definitive
diagnosis of
COPD is long as well.