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Updated: Jun 6, 2026

Employing the Forced Oscillation Technique for the Assessment of Respiratory Mechanics in Adults
Published on: February 9, 2022
Interpreting screening questionnaires: specific respiratory symptoms and their relationship to objective test results
Edward L Petsonk1, Mei Lin Wang
1Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV, USA. elp2@cdc.gov
Objective:
To better delineate the relationship between responses to screening respiratory symptom questionnaires and various pulmonary function test results.
Methods:
Spirometry, methacholine challenge, standardized questionnaires, smoking, medical, and work histories were recorded at initial and 5-year follow-up surveys among 411 participants. Percent-predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (ppFEV1), 5-year FEV1 decline, and proportion of methacholine responders (% hyper-responders) were compared with questionnaire responses utilizing generalized estimating equations modeling and analysis of variance.
Results:
Significant associations were found between ppFEV1 and cough, phlegm, dyspnea, or ever wheezing; between greater percentage of hyper-responders and dyspnea with wheezing, ever/persistent wheezing, or history of asthma/hay fever; and between accelerated FEV1 decline and new onset dyspnea with wheezing, phlegm, or persistent wheeze.
Conclusions:
Particular respiratory symptoms reported on screening questionnaires are associated with specific physiologic abnormalities, enhancing questionnaire utility in workplace health surveillance.
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