Abstract
In the course of establishing and evaluating a patient education program, we compared 4 strategies for locating patients with chronic obstructive airway disease (COAD): (1) search of hospital discharge records (HOSP), (2) referral by physicians (MD), (3) an advertising campaign (AD), and (4) a respiratory symptom questionnaire mailed to households (QUEST). Of 1,834 persons assessed, 923 (50%) had airway obstruction; 43% of the confirmed cases (396 of 923) reported no previous diagnosis of COAD. The HOSP strategy accounted for 75 assessments (4%) and 63 confirmed cases (7%), MD produced 352 assessments (19%) and 247 cases (27%), AD generated 475 assessments (26%) and 204 cases (22%), and QUEST resulted in 932 assessments (51%) and 409 cases (44%); MD was the least expensive strategy ($17.00/case). The mailed questionnaire located the largest number of cases not previously diagnosed.
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