Chest
Original ResearchAsthmaPulmonary Function Testing in the Diagnosis of Asthma: A Population Study
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
We conducted a longitudinal cohort study using health administrative data from Ontario, a province of Canada with universal health-care insurance and a diverse multicultural population of approximately 13 million.
Participants
There were 465,866 Ontarians aged 7 years and older who were diagnosed with asthma between 1996 and 2007. Characteristics of these individuals are presented in Table 1. The majority were under 40 years, were female, lived in an urban region, had a low to moderate amount of comorbidity, and had a specialist involved in their care.
Pulmonary Function Test Use Around the Time of Asthma Diagnosis
Approximately 42.7% of individuals (95% CI, 42.6, 42.9) underwent pulmonary function testing in the peridiagnostic period. Of these, 17.5% received a
Discussion
We conducted a study of all individuals living in Ontario, Canada with new physician-diagnosed asthma between 1996 and 2007 and found that only 42.7% received objective pulmonary function testing around the time of diagnosis. We also found young children and older adults, those who did not have a specialist involved in their care, and those of lower SES less likely to receive pulmonary function testing. Thus, it appears that most physician-diagnosed asthma in Ontario—a province with universal
Acknowledgments
Author contributions: Dr Gershon had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
Dr Gershon: contributed to the conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting and critical revision of the manuscript, and approval of the final version.
Mr Victor: contributed to the conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting and critical revision of the
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Funding/Support: Dr Gershon was supported by an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Scientist Award. Dr To is supported by The Dales Award in Medical Research from the University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada). Funding for this project was made available through the Government of Ontario. This study was also supported by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), which is funded by an annual grant from the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
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