[Diagnosis and treatment of obstructive lung diseases]

Obstructive pulmonary disease can be divided into bronchial asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Using a questionnaire, we carried out a survey among doctors in Hordaland county in order to discover how they diagnosed and treated obstructive pulmonary disease. The response rate was 60%; 119 general practitioners and 48 hospital doctors. In spite of recommended guidelines, 20% of the doctors did not perform any kind of spirometry when diagnosing obstructive pulmonary disease. Spirometry after inhalation of bronchodilators or corticosteroids was performed by 29% of the doctors when diagnosing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and by 43% when diagnosing asthma. 88% of the doctors who participated in our survey preferred to treat asthma with inhalation of beta-agonist or inhalation of corticosteroids, or both. This was in accordance with recommended guidelines. There was greater uncertainty amongst the doctors concerning the treating of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and the guidelines were followed to a lesser extent.