Spirometry Essay

SPIROMETRY IN PEDIATRIC PRACTICE: GLOBAL TRENDS AND CHALLENGES
Despite the importance of spirometry, studies from several developing and even developed countries show that it is frequently underutilized in both tertiary and primary care settings which cater for both adult and pediatric populations.28-37
In reviewing patients with obstructive lung disease who were being managed in primary care settings in Belgium, some authors observed that in the preceding two years to their study, only about 30% of study participants had been evaluated with spirometry.31In a survey by Finkelstein and colleagues33 on physician practices with children with asthma, they reported that less than a quarter of the physicians surveyed use spirometry in evaluation and diagnosis of asthma in children. Furthermore, Dombowski et al34 showed that about half of family physicians and pediatricians in their study used spirometry in their clinical practice and less than a quarter used spirometry for all guideline recommended situations with significantly more family physicians than pediatricians reporting the use of spirometry in their practice.
In making a diagnosis of

It stands to reason that there were most likely more children in those hospitals who had asthma or other chronic respiratory diseases requiring spirometry evaluation but had not presented for the procedure. This highlights the fact that children may not be routinely referred on a regular basis for spirometry, as well as the likelihood that the need for spirometry in children is not well