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ABSTRACT
Backgrounds
In China, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in persons 40 years of age or older is
estimated at 8.2%, but this is likely a substantial underestimate.
Methods
Eight secondary hospitals which didn't have spirometries were chosen randomly in Hunan province of central
south China. Physician subjects at these hospitals underwent a one-hour training course on the Chinese COPD
guidelines. Physicians answered questionnaires assessing their knowledge of the guidelines before and after the
training session. The mean correct scores of questionnaires were compared before and after training. Four out of
the eight hospitals were given access to spirometry. Eligible patient subjects underwent spirometry testing prior to
the physician visit. After seeing the patient, physicians were asked to answer a questionnaire relating to the
diagnosis and severity of COPD. Physicians were then given the results of the spirometry, and asked to answer the
same questionnaire. Physicians' responses before and after receiving the spirometry results were compared.
Results
225 physicians participated in the training session. 207 questionnaires were completed. Mean scores (out of 100)
before and after the training were 53.1 ± 21.7 and 93.3 ± 9.8, respectively. 18 physicians and 307 patient subjects
participated in the spirometry intervention. Based on spirometric results, the prevalence of COPD was 38.8%.
Physicians correctly identified the presence of COPD without spirometric data in 85 cases (76.6%); this increased
to 117 cases (97.4%) once spirometric data were available. Without spirometric data, physicians incorrectly
diagnosed COPD in 38 patients; this decreased to 6 patients once spirometric data were available. Spirometric
data also improved the ability of physicians to correctly grade COPD severity.
Conclusions
Simple educational training can substantially improve physicians' knowledge relating to COPD. Spirometry
combined with education improves the ability of physicians to diagnose COPD and to assess its severity.
FULL TEXT
Abstract
Backgrounds
In China, the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in persons 40 years of age or older is
estimated at 8.2%, but this is likely a substantial underestimate.
Methods
Eight secondary hospitals which didn't have spirometries were chosen randomly in Hunan province of central
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DETAILS
Location: China
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117348
Copyright: © 2015 Public Library of Science. This is an open-access article distributed under the
terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source
are credited: Citation: Cai S, Qin L, Tanoue L, Hu A, Jia X, et al. (2015) Effects of One-
Hour Training Course and Spirometry on the Ability of Physicians to Diagnose and
Treat Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. PLoS ONE 10(2): e0117348.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0117348