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Will Recommendations against Spirometry Make Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Harder to Treat?
- Ned Calonge, MD, MPH;
- Diana B. Petitti, MD, MPH; and
- Kenneth Lin, MD
- From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD 20852.
IN RESPONSE:
We appreciate the letter from Drs. Petty and Mannino regarding the USPSTF's recent recommendation against screening for COPD by using spirometry (1). Their comments provide us the opportunity to emphasize some important issues that the USPSTF considered in making this recommendation.
Identifying a disease earlier in its natural course does not automatically improve health outcomes. Clinicians should screen patients only if effective interventions are more beneficial during the asymptomatic disease stage than at clinical diagnosis and if the harms of screening or …
