家庭醫生經常根據患者癥狀和吸煙史就診斷慢性阻塞性肺病(COPD)。為了進一步明確診斷，患者應當接受肺活量(肺功能) 檢測。
Hines退伍軍人事務醫院(Hines, IL, USA) Todd A. Lee和他的同事在2006年7月《胸腔》上報道說，大約60%新近診斷為COPD的患者沒有接受過肺活量的檢測。“這導致的結果是不是COPD的患者接受了不必要的長期治療。
該報道的作者說，美國心胸學會、歐洲呼吸學會和全球慢性阻塞性肺病全球首創的指南都提示，肺活量的檢測對COPD而言是十分必需的。

COPD Is Being Diagnosed Too Hastily
Family physicians frequently diagnose chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) according to patient’s symptoms and smoking history. In order to obtain a definitive diagnosis, the patient should also undergo a spirometry (lung function) test.
Approximately 60% of patients newly diagnosed with COPD did not receive spirometry testing, reported Todd A. Lee, PharmD., Ph.D., of the Hines Veterans Affairs Hospital (Hines, IL, USA), and colleagues in the July 2006 issue of the journal Chest. “As a result patients who do not have COPD may be receiving unnecessary chronic therapy,” said Dr. Lee.
The authors of the report said that guidelines from the American Thoracic Society, the European Respiratory Society, and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease all indicate that spirometry is necessary to diagnose COPD.