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G Parkes
Dr G Parkes, The Limes Surgery, Hoddesdon, UK; parkesko@hotmail.co.uk
STUDY DESIGN
Design:
randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
concealed.*
Blinding:
blinded (outcome assessors).*
STUDY QUESTION
Setting:
5 general practices in Hertfordshire, UK.
Patients:
561 current smokers ⩾35 years of age (mean age 53 y, 54% women, mean 17 cigarettes/day, mean 33 pack-years of smoking). Patients who were receiving oxygen or had a history of lung cancer, tuberculosis, asbestosis, silicosis, bronchiectasis, or pneumonectomy were excluded.
Intervention:
all patients had spirometry at baseline to measure forced expiratory volume at 1 second (FEV1). Patients in the intervention group (n = 280) were immediately given their results verbally and graphically as “lung age” (age of the average healthy person who has an FEV1 equal to that of the patient); patients in the control group (n = 281) were not told their results …