Interpretation of pulmonary function test results in relation to asthma classification using integrated software suite
Asthma is a disorder characterized by chronic airway inflammation, airway hypersensitivity to a variety of stimuli, and airway obstruction that is at least partially or even completely reversible. To make correct diagnosis of asthma, diagnosis must be based on typical symptoms of asthma and identification of airway hyper responsiveness (AHR) or variable airway obstruction. In some cases, additionally we need to use bronchial provocation test using nonspecific stimuli, such as methacholine or histamine, what is useful for the determination of AHR. However, it is somewhat invasive in nature and it is not available in primary-care clinics or even in many general hospitals. Bronchodilator response (BDR) to short-acting β2-agonists is a valuable test to evaluate variable airway obstruction, which is only useful in patients with reduced lung function at the time of visit. Developed integrated software suite is user friendly tool which considers all this parameters to assist clinicians in the analysis and interpretation of pulmonary function tests data to better detect, diagnose, and treat asthma conditions. A total sum of 72 patient reports with previously diagnosed asthma by clinicians was tested with this tool. The software has performed the classification of asthma in the same way as doctors in 65 (90.27%) cases.