The prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases is increasing, seriously threatening the health and life safety of Chinese residents. Lung function tests are important screening and diagnostic means for chronic respiratory diseases, but have been insufficiently valued for a long time, especially in primary care. Great emphasis should be placed on the use of these tests in primary care, mainly due to the following two aspects: (1) The incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains high in China, and it is estimated that more than 5.40 million people will die of COPD and its related diseases per year by 2060. Chronic respiratory diseases have become a public health issue that seriously impairs the health of Chinese residents. (2) Lung function tests are the gold standard for diagnosing chronic respiratory diseases. Carrying out these tests in primary care is contributive to early detection and timely intensive treatment of chronic respiratory diseases, thereby delaying the decrease in lung functions. As the major healthcare providers, general practitioner (GP) teams have many advantages to implement lung function tests, and they can perform many tasks related to the tests: (1) Working in primary care is favorable for GP teams to implement long-term follow-up management for chronic diseases, and the biopsychosocial model used by them is beneficial to improving the quality of care for the patients. (2) GPs may carry out various types of heath education to enhance residents' awareness of chronic respiratory disease prevention and control to improve their adherence to lung function tests. (3) GPs may proactively perform early lung function tests for residents in their service area, especially those at high risk for chronic respiratory diseases, by which the optimal treatment time will be determined, then the disease burden will be reduced. (4) GP teams can provide contracted care services and creating a respiratory health file for chronic respiratory disease patients, and offer tiered management services to COPD patients according to the severity of their disease. In general, GPs should provide chronic respiratory disease patients with continuous and standardized services using a scientific and effective process, and timely and appropriate follow-up services. In view of the unsatisfactory implementation status of lung function tests in primary care, we invited a group of experts to give their opinions on some key questions. Professor CHEN Yan put forward recommendations on the target population to be screened: COPD patients with dyspnea, a history of chronic cough / expectoration, recurrent lower respiratory tract infection, a family history of COPD /childhood factors (such as low birth weight, childhood respiratory tract infection) , a history of exposure to any COPD risk factors (including tobacco smoke, fumes from burning fuel and inhalable dust) , or age>40 years; asthma patients with allergic rhinitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, COPD, bronchiectasis, smoking, a history of exposure to allergens and other environmental triggers, or obesity. And bronchiectasis and idiopathic pulmonary interstitial fibrosis patients should also be concerned population for implementing lung function tests. In terms of assessing and improving the quality control in performing lung function tests, Professor SONG Yuanlin and Professor GAI Xiaoyan proposed that during the implementation of such tests, the respiratory rate, respiratory amplitude and respiratory gas flow rate associated with lung ventilation function of the examinees are easily influenced by the performance of instruments and equipment, and operating skills of technicians as well as individual physiological and pathological factors of examinees. And they put forward recommendations, for example, using smart spirometers with built-in calibration and quality control standards in lung function tests, to reduce the operational complexity, so that primary care workers can quickly grasp the essentials of performing lung function tests. During the discussion of a community COPD department playing a demonstration role in the construction of early screening and intervention of respiratory disease project in primary care, Professor CHEN Yahong pointed out the standardized respiratory disease prevention, diagnosis and management system and capacity building program in primary care, and capabilities improvement program for early screening and intervention for respiratory diseases in primary care, have greatly promoted the levels of standardized prevention, treatment and nursing care of respiratory diseases, and the determination of number and quality of spirometers equipped in primary care settings. It is hoped that this article will provide insights into the promotion of lung function tests in primary care.
