[The role of spirometry in encouraging smoking cessation in general practice. A pilot study using "lung age"]

Our aim was to investigate whether spirometry, performed in general practitioners' offices would change non-motivated smokers' attitudes toward smoking cessation.

We performed an interventional, prospective, before-after single-center study, approved by a research ethics committee. We included 74 smokers older than 18years old, who reported no intention to quit smoking, whatever they were visiting general practitioners for. We performed spirometry and gave them their results, FEV₁/FVC and lung age together with a comment on it. Nine months later, we called them for another assessment.

Fifty-six percent were women with an average-age of 46.5, who smoked 26.3 pack-years. Eighty-two percent of them had normal FEV₁/FVC but lung age was pathological among 38% of them. Nine months later, 61.1% reported an increased motivation to quit smoking. They smoked 10.9 cigarettes per day versus 13,3 at baseline (P=0.0254). Increase in motivation was not statistically related to age, gender, previous smoking cessations, daily smoking, nicotine dependence or an abnormal FEV₁/VC ratio (P>0.75) but was significantly related to the presence of an abnormal lung age status (P<0.03).

This study suggests that spirometry in general practice, combined with the determination of the lung age, may increase motivation towards smoking cessation in smokers who lack motivation.