Introduction

Bronchodilator responsiveness (BDR)   has a major clinical implication thus recommendations related to this subject are in constant change.

Objective

To compare differences between 2005-BDR and 2021-BDR criteria in asthma and COPD patients.

Methods

This  retrospective study   included 219    asthmatic  and 121   COPD patients   which underwent PFT in our department from 2020 to 2022. Spirometry with BD test   was performed for all study population with measurement of pre and post bronchodilator values of FEV1 and FVC. BDR was calculated referring to 2005 and 2021 ERS/ATS recommendations as follows :

- 2005-BDR+: Increase in FEV1 and/or FVC > 12% of their initial value and > 0.2l.

-2022-BDR+: Increase in FEV1 and/or FVC > 10% of their predicted value.

Results

In this study, mean age was 48.27±24.07 years. Means values reported before and after salbutamol inhalation were respectively 74.38±24.89 and 78.20±25.55 for FEV1 (%) and  86.99±22.91 and 90.55± 20.06  for  FVC (%).Although percentage of BDR+ was significantly higher in asthma  patients than in COPD patients according to 2021 ERS/ATS recommendations (p=0.05),  it was not the case when using 2005 ERS/ATS criteria (p=0.231). Furthermore, compared with 2005-BDR+, the percentage of 2022-BDR+ was reduced in COPD patients (14.05 % vs 11.57%) but not in asthma patients  (17.8 % vs 18.72%).

Conclusion

As shown in our study, there is a difference between both BDR 2005 and 2021 criteria in asthma and COPD patients.