Warning over COPD misdiagnosis as spirometry declines and triple therapy rises
Fewer COPD cases are being diagnosed, and more are being incorrectly treated, according to a new report.
A 31% collapse in spirometry testing rates and ballooning scripts for triple therapy suggest COPD cases are being missed and patients incorrectly treated, experts say.
Spirometry tests under Medicare have fallen from 4114 per 100,000 people aged 35 and older to 2848 in seven years, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care says.
In the same 2015-16 to 2022-23 period, PBS prescription rates for combined inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting muscarinic antagonists and LABAs increased from 2501 to 5750 in the same cohort.
It suggested doctors were using the treatment to cover both asthma and COPD without using the gold standard for COPD diagnosis, said GP Dr Lee Fong, a medical adviser to the commission.
