Prepared for:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

540 Gaither Road

Rockville, MD 20850

www.ahrq.gov

Contract No. 290-02-0009

Prepared by:

Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Investigators

Timothy J. Wilt, MD, MPH

Dennis Niewoehner, MD

Chun-Bae Kim, MD

Robert L. Kane, MD

Amy Linabery, BS

James Tacklind, BS

Roderick MacDonald, MS

Indulis Rutks, BS

AHRQ Publication No. 05-E017-2

September 2005

This document is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without permission except those copyrighted materials noted for which further reproduction is prohibited without the specific permission of copyright holders.

This report is based on research conducted by the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC), Minneapolis, Minnesota under contract to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD (Contract No. 290-02-0009). The findings and conclusions in this document are those of the authors, who are responsible for its contents; the findings and conclusions do not necessarily represent the views of AHRQ. Therefore, no statement in this report should be construed as an official position of AHRQ or of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The information in this report is intended to help health care decisionmakers, patients and clinicians, health system leaders, and policymakers make well-informed decisions and thereby improve the quality of health care services. This report is not intended to be a substitute for the application of clinical judgment. Anyone who makes decisions concerning the provision of clinical care should consider this report as they would any medical reference and in conjunction with all other pertinent information, i.e., in the context of available resources and circumstances presented by individual patients.

This report may be used, in whole or in part, as the basis for development of clinical practice guidelines and other quality enhancement tools, or a basis for reimbursement and coverage policies. Neither AHRQ's nor the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' endorsement of such derivative products may be stated or implied.

Suggested Citation:

Wilt TJ, Niewoehner D, Kim C-B, Kane RL, Linabery A, Tacklind J, MacDonald R, Rutks I. Use of Spirometry for Case Finding, Diagnosis, and Management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Evidence Report/Technology Assessment No. 121 (Prepared by the Minnesota Evidence-based Practice Center under Contract No. 290-02-0009.) AHRQ Publication No. 05-E017-2. Rockville, MD. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. September 2005.