Using spirometry as a diagnostic test for asthma in children is ‘acceptable’ to patients and ‘helpful’ for making the clinical diagnosis of asthma, a study has found.
Results from the Champions study, conducted by researchers from the universities of Leicester and Oxford, were presented at the RCGP conference in October.
Although this research is not part of the NICE feasibility pilot for its new asthma guideline – due for publication this week – one of the authors, Dr Erol Gaillard, is a member of NICE’s asthma guideline development group.
During the study, spirometry and forced exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) training was provided in 10 pilot clinics across GP practices in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire and both tests were attempted on all children attending the clinics.
Preliminary analysis found that just under 100% of parents and carers said that they would be extremely likely or likely to recommend spirometry and 87% of children said that they would be happy to have the test again.
The research also found that clinical staff found the spirometry information useful in supporting or directing clinical management plans in 92% of patient reviews.
Useable spirometry data was collected in 92% of children aged 5-11 and 96% of children aged 12-16, but the data on FeNO testing was still under analysis at the time of presentation at the conference.
The poster said: ‘The preliminary data suggests that providing spirometry in general practice gives useable data, is acceptable to children and their parents and furthermore, clinical staff find the tests helpful in supporting asthma reviews.’
In 2015, NICE plans for practices to carry out spirometry and FeNO testing were met with uproar, with the BMA and RCGP warning that the tests were too complex and expensive to be carried out in primary care.
NICE subsequently took the unprecedented step of delaying the publication of the guidelines and agreeing to commission pilot studies to assess the feasibility of doing the tests in primary care.
