Baseline characteristics of general practices and study subjects
| Values are mean (SD) unless stated otherwise. | |
| *Based on first year spirometric tests performed in the pulmonary function laboratories. | |
| †Post-bronchodilator FEV1 % predicted minus pre-bronchodilator FEV1 % predicted. | |
| General practices (n=61) | |
| No of GPs | 2.5 (1.4) |
| GPs’ professional experience (years) | 14.3 (8.2) |
| No of practice assistants | 3.1 (1.4) |
| Practice assistants’ professional experience (years) | 10.7 (7.4) |
| Practice population size (no of patients per GP) | 1862 (771) |
| Time since introduction of spirometry (years) | 4.3 (2.9) |
| No of spirometers present | 1.8 (1.2) |
| Study subjects (n=388) | |
| Male/female | 266/122 |
| Age (years) | 59.6 (9.7) |
| Current smokers, n (%) | 228 (59) |
| Cumulative cigarette smoke exposure (pack years) | 28 (17) |
| Use of inhaled corticosteroids, n (%) | 58 (15) |
| Use of bronchodilator, n (%) | 285 (73) |
| FEV1* | |
| Pre-bronchodilator (l) | 1.80 (0.66) |
| % predicted | 60.3 (18.2) |
| Post-bronchodilator (l) | 2.00 (0.66) |
| % predicted | 66.7 (17.4) |
| FVC* | |
| Pre-bronchodilator (l) | 2.91 (0.92) |
| % predicted | 78.2 (18.7) |
| Post-bronchodilator (l) | 3.21 (0.94) |
| % predicted | 85.9 (18.0) |
| FEV1/FVC* | |
| Pre-bronchodilator (%) | 61.9 (11.7) |
| % predicted | 80.5 (14.8) |
| Post-bronchodilator (%) | 62.6 (11.6) |
| % predicted | 81.3 (14.8) |
| Reversibility of FEV1 (%)† | 6.8 (6.2) |