Significance of pulmonary function testing in the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective To explore the significance of pulmonary function testing in the diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD).Methods Sixty patients with COPD for lung function testing while 74 cases of normal controls to observe the characteristics of pulmonary function of patients with COPD.Results The proportion of mild,moderate,severe and very severe of COPD patients was 23.7％,42.4％,25.4％ and 8.5％,and the percentage difference among the four groups,male to female ratio differences,age differences were not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).The FEV1％ pred,FEV1/ FVC,DLCO and DLCO/VA of the mild,moderate,severe and very severe of COPD patients were significantly lower than the control group (P ＜0.05),except the FEV1 ％pred of mild of COPD (P ＞ 0.05).The FEV1％pred of mild,moderate,severe and very severe of COPD decreased with the severity of COPD,coparation between each two groups were statistically significant (P ＜0.05).There is a good correlation between each lung function index,such as FEV1,FEV1/FVC,DLCO and DLCO/VA of COPD patients(P ＜0.05).Conclusions The FEV1,FEV1/FVC,DLCO,DLCO/VA of patients with COPD were lower than normal healthy people,their pulmonary ventilation function and pulmonary diffusion function had a good correlation,suggesting that lung function testing in the diagnosis of COPD had a very important clinical significance,and should be actively promoted. Key words: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; Pulmonary function testing