Recommendations for a Standardized Pulmonary Function Report. An Official American Thoracic Society Technical Statement

The American Thoracic Society committee on Proficiency Standards for Pulmonary Function Laboratories has recognized the need for a standardized reporting format for pulmonary function tests.

Although prior documents have offered guidance on the reporting of test data, there is considerable variability in how these results are presented to end users, leading to potential confusion and miscommunication.

This document presents a reporting format in test-specific units for spirometry, lung volumes, and diffusing capacity that can be assembled into a report appropriate for a laboratory’s practice.

The ATS PFT Committee believes that wide adoption of the formats presented introduced in this report and their underlying principles by equipment manufacturers and pulmonary function laboratories can improve the interpretation, communication, and understanding of test results. Limiting the number of parameters reported and showing the LLN next to the measured value should improve interpretive accuracy, particularly for those less experienced.

The article details are the following:

- Title: "Recommendations for a Standardized Pulmonary Function Report. An Official American Thoracic Society Technical Statement"
- Authors: Culver BH, Graham BL, Coates AL, Wanger J, Berry CE, Clarke PK, Hallstrand TS, Hankinson JL, Kaminsky DA, MacIntyre NR, McCormack MC, Rosenfeld M, Stanojevic S, Weiner DJ; ATS Committee on Proficiency Standards for Pulmonary Function Laboratories.
- Published in: Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017 Dec 1;196(11):1463-1472

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