Evidence map›Paper›PMID 9554899›Full record

ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1998

Identifying asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients with persistent cough presenting to general practitioners: descriptive study.

H A Thiadens, G H de Bock, F W Dekker, J A Huysman, J C van Houwelingen, M P Springer, D S Postma

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1998. 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.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Observational
  8. Article
  9. Accuracy of symptoms, signs, and C-reactive protein for early chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012
    Article
  10. Undetected chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma in people over 50 years with persistent cough.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2010
    Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Acute upper airway infections.British medical bulletin · 2002
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Changing the culture?The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2001
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

H A ThiadensDepartment of General Practice, Leiden University Medical Centre, PO Box 2088, 2301 CB Leiden, Netherlands.
G H de Bock
F W Dekker
J A Huysman
J C van Houwelingen
M P Springer
D S Postma
Leiden University · NLLeiden University Medical Center · NLUniversity of Groningen · NL

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine the prevalence of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in patients not known to have these disorders, who present in general practice with persistent cough, and to ascertain criteria to help general practitioners in diagnosis.

designDescriptive study.

settingPrimary healthcare centre in the Netherlands. SUBJECTS: 192 patients aged 18-75 years, not known to have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, attending their general practitioner with cough persisting for at least 2 weeks. : A diagnosis of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was based on the recurrence of airway symptoms in the past year accompanied by spirometric measurements (including bronchodilator testing) and methacholine provocation tests. A scoring formula to estimate the probability of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, based on history and physical examination, was generated by means of logistic regression.

results74 patients (39%) were classified as having asthma, 14 (7%) as having chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The best formula for predicting asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease used scores for three symptoms: (reported) wheeze, (reported) dyspnoea, and allergen induced symptoms, together with prolonged expiration, pack years of smoking, and female sex. Variables were scored 1 when present and 0 when absent, except for allergen induced symptoms (1.5) and number of pack years of smoking (n/25). With a cut off value of 3 on the scoring formula, 76% of the patients could be classified correctly.

conclusionsAbout half of patients with persistent cough who present to a general practitioner have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. With a simple formula based on three symptoms and prolonged expiration, pack years of smoking, and female sex, most patients may be identified correctly in general practice.

Indexed as

AdolescentAdultAgedAsthmaChronic DiseaseCoughFamily PracticeFemaleHumansLogistic ModelsLung Diseases, ObstructiveMaleMiddle AgedOdds RatioPatient Acceptance of Health CareRespiratory Function Tests

Identifiers

PMID9554899
PMCPMC28529
OpenAlexW1968735064

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.