Further reading

Respiratory conditions, and particularly COPD, are often under-diagnosed in low-resource settings. Case-finding instruments may improve diagnosis and help identify appropriate treatments for people with respiratory disease.

A recent study in Uganda has tested a low-cost screening tool. The tool includes seven questions related to respiratory symptoms, functional status and exposure history which, combined with PEF (peak expiratory flow) and age, had good discrimination for COPD in a low-resource setting.

You can read more about the tool in A Novel Case-Finding Instrument for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Low- and Middle-Income Country Settings.