ReviewMayo Clinic proceedings2010
Improving the differential diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary care.
Review in Mayo Clinic proceedings, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Romanian clinical guideline for diagnosis and treatment of COPD.The Journal of international medical research · 2020Guideline
- An Italian regional analysis on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): correct diagnosis and lifestyle play a fundamental role in supporting drug therapy and containing healthcare costs.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Observational
- Automated Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Phenotyping and Control Assessment in Primary Care: Retrospective Multicenter Study Using the Seleida Model.JMIR medical informatics · 2025Article
- Awareness of COPD and Its Risk Factors Among the Adult Population of the Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2023Article
- Artificial intelligence to differentiate asthma from COPD in medico-administrative databases.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Article
- Importance of distinguishing between asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in primary care.Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2021Article
- Article
- Imaging in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency: a window into the disease.Therapeutic advances in chronic disease · 2021Review
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Clinical Implications for Patients With Lung CancerClinical journal of oncology nursing · 2018Article
- A Methodological Framework for the Integrated Design of Decision-Intensive Care Pathways-an Application to the Management of COPD Patients.Journal of healthcare informatics research · 2017Article
- Brazilian studies on pulmonary function in COPD patients: what are the gaps?International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2016Review
- Diagnosis, assessment, and phenotyping of COPD: beyond FEV₁.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2016Review
- Prevalence of undiagnosed airflow obstruction among people with a history of smoking in a primary care setting.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2016Article
- Changes in the Effect of Heat on Mortality in the Last 20 Years in Nine European Cities. Results from the PHASE Project.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2015Article
- Does this patient really have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?Singapore medical journal · 2015Review
- Feasibility and effectiveness of an asthma/COPD service for primary care: a cross-sectional baseline description and longitudinal results.NPJ primary care respiratory medicine · 2015Article
- The diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.Deutsches Arzteblatt international · 2014Review
- Risk-to-benefit ratio of inhaled corticosteroids in patients with COPD.Primary care respiratory journal : journal of the General Practice Airways Group · 2013Review
- The clinical and economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the USA.ClinicoEconomics and outcomes research : CEOR · 2013Article
- The safety of long-acting β2-agonists in the treatment of stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2013Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma represent a substantial portion of primary care practice. In adults, differentiating asthma from COPD can be difficult but is important because of the marked differences in treatment, disease progression, and outcomes between the 2 conditions. Currently, clinical COPD is often misdiagnosed or undiagnosed until late in the disease. Earlier diagnosis could markedly reduce morbidity and improve quality of life. Establishing a diagnosis of COPD requires spirometry testing, interpreted in the context of the patient's symptoms, smoking status, age, and comorbidities. Additional tests and tools may be helpful in the differential diagnosis, including questionnaires specifically developed to discriminate between COPD and asthma and, in special cases, imaging studies. Follow-up and monitoring of asthma and COPD are always necessary and provide additional benefit in patients in whom only continued care and reassessment can confirm the final diagnosis, such as younger individuals with fixed airway obstruction, smokers with asthma, and patients with both disorders. Key areas for improvement include enhanced case identification, improved quality and interpretation of findings on spirometry, and increased use of tools such as differential diagnosis questionnaires and algorithms to guide the diagnostic and monitoring process. To achieve optimal outcomes, the primary care team should make every effort to establish a firm diagnosis. For this review, we conducted a PubMed search with no time limits using the Medical Subject Headings chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD and asthma, in association with the following search terms: diagnosis, differential diagnosis, mixed or comorbid disease, diagnostic techniques, spirometry, questionnaires, and primary care.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.