Validation of IPAG Questionnaire for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Shimane Prefecture

The under-recognition of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among general physicians might be one of the biggest hindrances to an accurate diagnosis of COPD. The international primary care airways group (IPAG) questionnaire is known to be useful for screening COPD, but its specificity is not high enough to screen Japanese cases. We carried out spirometry and interviews at general physicians’ offices to determine the COPD prevalence and evaluate the usefulness of the COPD diagnostic questionnaire. A total of 882 cases were enrolled into the study. As a result of a multiple logistic analysis of the original IPAG questionnaire, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was found to be 0.765. However, when comparing the four items of age, smoking history, wheezing, and dyspnea on effort, the area increased to 0.786. The validated IPAG questionnaire might be a promising screening tool for Japanese older COPD cases.