Validity of a questionnaire-based diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a general population-based study

Table 3 Diagnostic accuracy of the question “Have you been diagnosed by a physician as having COPD or emphysema?” and of self-reported, questionnaire-based chronic bronchitis symptoms to detect chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in men and women

			FEV₁/FVC <0.7 (GOLD)		FEV₁/FVC <1.645 SD below predicted (ATS/ERS)
			Value	95% CI	Value	95% CI
Physician-diagnosed COPD	Sensitivity	Women	0.083	0.032–0.135	0.11	0.035–0.185
	Sensitivity	Men	0.032	0–0.065	0.074	−0.015–0.163
	Specificity	Women	0.996	0.993–1	0.995	0.991–0.999
	Specificity	Men	0.997	0.994–1	0.996	0.992–1
	PPV	Women	0.682	0.434–0.93	0.545	0.28–0.811
	PPV	Men	0.545	0.17–0.921	0.364	0.001–0.726
	NPV	Women	0.918	0.903–0.934	0.952	0.94–0.964
	NPV	Men	0.902	0.885–0.919	0.973	0.963–0.982
Chronic bronchitis symptoms	Sensitivity	Women	0.044	0.006–0.083	0.073	0.011–0.136
	Sensitivity	Men	0.048	0.009–0.088	0.074	−0.015–0.163
	Specificity	Women	0.976	0.968–0.985	0.977	0.969–0.986
	Specificity	Men	0.983	0.975–0.991	0.981	0.973–0.989
	PPV	Women	0.154	0.029–0.279	0.154	0.029–0.279
	PPV	Men	0.237	0.064–0.409	0.105	−0.019–0.23
	NPV	Women	0.914	0.898–0.929	0.949	0.937–0.962
	NPV	Men	0.902	0.885–0.92	0.972	0.963–0.982

ATS = American Thoracic Society; CI = confidence interval; ERS = European Respiratory Society; FEV₁ = forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FEV₁/FVC = FEV₁/forced vital capacity ratio; Gold = Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; NPV = negative predictive value; PPV = positive predictive value.

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