Background: Smoking is the main preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in our region, it being the main\r\ncausative agent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There still is no consensus on the use of spirometry as a\r\nstrategy for smoking cessation, given that there is insufficient scientific evidence from high quality studies to\r\nrecommend the use of this technique.\r\nMethods/Design: This is to be a randomized, multicentre, open-label clinical trial. A total of 444 smokers over\r\n40 years of age will be recruited by 39 general practitioners from 22 health centers. Primary objective of this study\r\nis to assess the effectiveness of spirometry together with information regarding the test for smoking cessation after\r\n1 year in smokers over 40 years of age with a more than 10 pack-year history and no previous diagnosis of chronic\r\nobstructive pulmonary disease. Groups of 45 patients who smoke will be randomly selected from the lists of the\r\nparticipating doctors. The names will be sent to the corresponding doctors who will contact candidate patients and\r\nassess whether they meet the selection criteria. Patients who meet these criteria will be randomly allocated to an\r\nintervention or control group. For patients in both groups, a nurse will conduct an interview and perform a\r\nspirometry test to measure forced vital capacity. Then, all patients will be referred for an appointment with their\r\ndoctor for brief anti-smoking intervention, patients from the intervention group additionally being informed about\r\nthe result of the spirometry test. After 1 year, smoking status will be assessed and, in those who report that they\r\nhave quit smoking, abstinence will be confirmed by co-oximetry. Data will be analyzed on an intention-to-treat\r\nbasis using the chi-squared test for outcomes and binary logistic regression if it is considered to be necessary to\r\nadjust for confounding variables.\r\nDiscussion: Performing a spirometry test and providing information on pulmonary function may increase\r\nawareness of the effect of smoking among smokers who are asymptomatic or have few symptoms and make them\r\ndecide to quit. Specifically, in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease it might increase levels of\r\nmotivation to quit smoking in early stages of the disease. If this strategy were to be effective, it could be included\r\nin the health promotion activities offered in primary care.
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