PHILADELPHIA, August 2, 2011 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP), American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Thoracic Society (ATS), and European Respiratory Society (ERS) today released a joint clinical practice guideline on diagnosing and treating stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in Annals of Internal Medicine , ACP's flagship journal. ACP convened the four organizations, which represent more than 170,000 physicians from around the world, to develop the joint guideline.
"This clinical practice guideline aims to help clinicians to diagnose and manage stable COPD, prevent and treat exacerbations, reduce hospitalizations and deaths, and improve the quality of life of patients with COPD," said lead author Amir Qaseem, MD, FACP, PhD, Director of Clinical Policy, American College of Physicians. "It is important for patients with COPD to stop smoking and for physicians to help their patients to quit smoking."
COPD occurs predominantly in cigarette smokers. COPD symptoms include chronic cough, wheezing, shortness of breath, or significant activity limitation.
The clinical practice guideline includes the following recommendations:
"While targeted use of spirometry for diagnosis of airflow obstruction is beneficial for patients with respiratory symptoms, particularly dyspnea, it does not appear to have an independent influence on the likelihood of quitting smoking or maintaining abstinence," noted Nicola A. Hanania, MD, MS, FCCP, Chair, Airways Disorders NetWork, American College of Chest Physicians.
"The routine use of spirometry for patients without respiratory symptoms could lead to unnecessary testing, increased costs, unnecessary disease labeling, and the harms of long-term treatment with no known preventive effect on avoiding future symptoms," said Gerard Criner, MD, Professor of Medicine, Temple University, and past chair of the American Thoracic Society's Assembly on Clinical Problems.
About the American College of Physicians
The American College of Physicians is the largest medical specialty organization and the second-largest physician group in the United States. ACP members include 132,000 internal medicine physicians (internists), related subspecialists, and medical students. Internists specialize in the prevention, detection, and treatment of illness in adults. Follow ACP on Twitter and Facebook .
About the American College of Chest Physicians
The ACCP represents 18,200 members who provide patient care in the areas of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine in the United States and throughout the world. The mission of the ACCP is to promote the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. For more information about the ACCP, please visit the ACCP Web site at www.chestnet.org .
About the American Thoracic Society
The mission of the ATS is to improve health worldwide by advancing research, clinical care and public health in respiratory disease, critical illness and sleep disorders. Founded in 1905 as the American Sanatorium Association to prevent, control and treat tuberculosis, the association was renamed the American Thoracic Society in 1960. Today, the Society provides educational, research, clinical and advocacy support for 15,000 physician, research scientist and allied health professional members who work around the globe. For more information, visit www.thoracic.org .
About the European Respiratory Society
ERS is the leading professional organization in its field in Europe. It is broad-based, with some 11,000 members in over 100 countries. Its scope covers both basic science and clinical medicine.
Annals of Internal Medicine