Screening for COPD in primary care, involving dentists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, nurses and general practitioners (the UNANIME pilot study)

Background: COPD is underdiagnosed and is projected to be the third cause of death in 2030. However, recent reviews do not recommend screening for COPD in the general population.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study to assess the feasibility of implementing COPD screening in a high-risk COPD population, with the help of various healthcare professionals (General practitioners, pharmacists, dentists, physiotherapists, and nurses). Participants filled out a questionnaire, performed a spirometry (COPD6™) and counselling was performed, including smoking cessation and chest physician referral. Participants were contacted at two months to evaluate the effect of the intervention.

Results: Between April 7th, 2017 and July 30th, 2018, 157 participants filled out the questionnaires, performed spirometry and were contacted at two months. Thirty-five out of 157 (22% [95% CI, 15.8-28.8]) participants were detected with an airflow obstruction (FEV1/FEV6 < 0.7), using COPD6™ device. At the two-month-contact, 68 participants (43%, [95%CI 35.5-51.1]) were engaged in a smoking cessation program and 22 (14% [95 % CI, 8.6-19.4]) reported having quit smoking.

Conclusion: This pilot study suggested that a predefined screening of COPD by different healthcare professionals could be implemented in primary care and might be part of counselling for smoking cessation (NCT03104348 on ClinicalTrials.gov).