The role of portable spirometer on pulmonary function sceening of cigarettes exposed people

Objective To investigate the role of portable spirometer on pulmonary function evaluation of cigarettes exposed people, and to discuss the value of portable spirometer on screening chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in communities. Methods From March to November 2012, pulmonary function tests were performed on volunteers aged 40-75 years old from Xinjiekou Community, Xicheng District, Peking.Demographics, smoking status, forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), FEV6, forced vital capacity (FVC) and other pulmonary function values were recorded.Research objects were divided into three groups according to their tobacco exposure status: smoking group, passive smoking group and non-smoking group.The efficiency of FEV1/FEV6 and FEV1/FVC were compared among non-smoking group, passive smoking group and smoking group. Results FEV1/FEV6 was lower in smoking group than those in non-smoking group and passive smoking group (F=16.326, P=0.000). Positive correlation were found in three group between FEV6 and FVC (r=0.929, 0.922, 0.930, all P=0.000), FEV1/FEV6 and FEV1/FVC (r=0.888, 0.892, 0.943, all P=0.000). Compared with standard definition of obstruction (FEV1/FVC<70%), the sensitivity of portable spirometer in screening COPD through FEV1/FEV6 was 91%, the specifity was 90.1%, positive predictive value was 86.8%, negative predictive value was 93%. Conclusions There is positive correlation between FEV1/FEV6 and FEV1/FVC.It is helpful to identify early COPD patients using FEV1/FEV6 on screening pulmonary function of cigarettes exposed people. Key words: Portable spirometer; Forced expiratory volume in the sixth second; Smoking; Pulmonary function