Can access to spirometry in asthma education centres influence the referral rate by primary physicians for education?
M Labrecque, M Lavallee, M Beauchesne, A Cartier, L Boulet BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Asthma remains uncontrolled in a large number of asthmatic patients. Recent surveys have shown that a minority of asthmatic patients are referred to asthma educators.The objective of the present study was to assess the influence of increased access to spirometry in asthma education centres (AECs) on the rate of patient referrals to these centres by general practitioners. METHODS: A one-year, prospective, randomized, multicentric, parallel group study was conducted over two consecutive periods of six months each, with added spirometry being offered in the second six-month period to the experimental group. Ten AECs were enrolled in the project. An advertisement describing the AECs’ services was sent by mail to a total of 303 general practitioners at the start of each period, inviting them to refer their patients. Measures of the frequency of medical referrals to the AECs were assessed for each period. R
