Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic
OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) presented considerable challenges to health services, particularly for a routine assessment method, the pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which can generate aerosols and require sharing common surfaces. Despite these risks, there is a need to continue te...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Galenos
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Thoracic Research and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://thoracrespract.org/articles/nationwide-assessment-of-pulmonary-function-testing-practices-and-safety-compliance-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ThoracResPract.2025.2025-1-12 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849324283066580992 |
|---|---|
| author | Aslı Görek Dilektaşlı Şermin Börekçi Öznur Akkoca Yıldız Bilun Gemicioğlu Cüneyt Saltürk Sevgi Behiye Saryal Gaye Ulubay |
| author_facet | Aslı Görek Dilektaşlı Şermin Börekçi Öznur Akkoca Yıldız Bilun Gemicioğlu Cüneyt Saltürk Sevgi Behiye Saryal Gaye Ulubay |
| author_sort | Aslı Görek Dilektaşlı |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) presented considerable challenges to health services, particularly for a routine assessment method, the pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which can generate aerosols and require sharing common surfaces. Despite these risks, there is a need to continue testing, especially for vulnerable patient groups.
MATERIAL AND METHODS: An online survey was conducted from June 1 to June 26, 2020, to assess pulmonologists’ practices regarding PFTs before and during the pandemic’s first peak in Türkiye (March 11-May 20, 2020). The survey included 30 anonymized questions and received ethical committee approval. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical package.
RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-three respondents across 59 cities participated in the study. 93% were pulmonologists. 77.4% of PFT labs have adequate ventilation by having a window enabling room direct air exchange. 27.2% of the PFT labs continued testing during the first peak of the pandemic. 83.3% of the responding centers applied triage before testing. Ongoing tests included spirometry (100%), bronchodilator reversibility testing (62.1%), and carbon-monoxide diffusion testing (16.7%). 49% of the PFT labs conducted fewer than four tests daily, while 21.2% performed more than eight. PFT technicians used personal protective equipment, with 67.7% using eye protection and 75.3 % wearing FFP3 or FFP2 masks.
CONCLUSION: The survey found that pulmonologists have acted quickly and made moderate success in making preparations in PFT labs for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, safer practice in PFT units still needs to be implemented. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-174b018fe43546b990094feff2e46f62 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2979-9139 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Galenos |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Thoracic Research and Practice |
| spelling | doaj-art-174b018fe43546b990094feff2e46f622025-08-20T03:48:46ZengGalenosThoracic Research and Practice2979-91392025-05-0126313714410.4274/ThoracResPract.2025.2025-1-12Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 PandemicAslı Görek Dilektaşlı0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7099-9647Şermin Börekçi1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0089-1312Öznur Akkoca Yıldız2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5379-6829Bilun Gemicioğlu3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5953-4881Cüneyt Saltürk4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7459-9210Sevgi Behiye Saryal5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5062-5226Gaye Ulubay6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2478-9985Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Bursa Uludağ University Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, TürkiyeDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, TürkiyeDepartment of Chest Diseases, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TürkiyeDepartment of Pulmonary Diseases, İstanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, TürkiyeDepartment of Chest Diseases, Medipol University Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul, TürkiyeDepartment of Chest Diseases, Ankara University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TürkiyeDepartment of Pulmonary Medicine, Başkent University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, TürkiyeOBJECTIVE: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) presented considerable challenges to health services, particularly for a routine assessment method, the pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which can generate aerosols and require sharing common surfaces. Despite these risks, there is a need to continue testing, especially for vulnerable patient groups. MATERIAL AND METHODS: An online survey was conducted from June 1 to June 26, 2020, to assess pulmonologists’ practices regarding PFTs before and during the pandemic’s first peak in Türkiye (March 11-May 20, 2020). The survey included 30 anonymized questions and received ethical committee approval. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical package. RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-three respondents across 59 cities participated in the study. 93% were pulmonologists. 77.4% of PFT labs have adequate ventilation by having a window enabling room direct air exchange. 27.2% of the PFT labs continued testing during the first peak of the pandemic. 83.3% of the responding centers applied triage before testing. Ongoing tests included spirometry (100%), bronchodilator reversibility testing (62.1%), and carbon-monoxide diffusion testing (16.7%). 49% of the PFT labs conducted fewer than four tests daily, while 21.2% performed more than eight. PFT technicians used personal protective equipment, with 67.7% using eye protection and 75.3 % wearing FFP3 or FFP2 masks. CONCLUSION: The survey found that pulmonologists have acted quickly and made moderate success in making preparations in PFT labs for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, safer practice in PFT units still needs to be implemented.https://thoracrespract.org/articles/nationwide-assessment-of-pulmonary-function-testing-practices-and-safety-compliance-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ThoracResPract.2025.2025-1-12pulmonary function testingcovid-19occupational safety |
| spellingShingle | Aslı Görek Dilektaşlı Şermin Börekçi Öznur Akkoca Yıldız Bilun Gemicioğlu Cüneyt Saltürk Sevgi Behiye Saryal Gaye Ulubay Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic Thoracic Research and Practice pulmonary function testing covid-19 occupational safety |
| title | Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full | Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_short | Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic |
| title_sort | nationwide assessment of pulmonary function testing practices and safety compliance during the covid 19 pandemic |
| topic | pulmonary function testing covid-19 occupational safety |
| url | https://thoracrespract.org/articles/nationwide-assessment-of-pulmonary-function-testing-practices-and-safety-compliance-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/doi/ThoracResPract.2025.2025-1-12 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT aslıgorekdilektaslı nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT serminborekci nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT oznurakkocayıldız nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT bilungemicioglu nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT cuneytsalturk nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT sevgibehiyesaryal nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic AT gayeulubay nationwideassessmentofpulmonaryfunctiontestingpracticesandsafetycomplianceduringthecovid19pandemic |