Case finding
If you find yourself on an NHS medical ward this winter, the chances are that a significant number of the patients will have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations. In order to reduce the human and economic costs of COPD, including hospital admissions, early diagnosis has been a key national priority in the UK. Although there is no evidence for population screening, there is some evidence to support targeted case finding in symptomatic individuals. A research team from Southampton recently sought to find out what primary care clinicians and managers from 34 practices thought of this approach.1 Most of those interviewed were practising …