Spirometry

Spirometry for healthcare professionals

If you suspect your patient might have asthma or they have been diagnosed with asthma, they may need a lung function or spirometry test. 

Spirometry is an objective physiological test of lung function. It measures how much and how quickly air can be exhaled from full lungs. In asthma it is used to detect obstruction, degree of obstruction and the variability of obstruction.  

Most adults and children over six years of age can do the spirometry test correctly. 

Spirometry – Infection Control Advice

COVID-19 has had a profound impact on the health care system, and resulted in extreme infection control measures within health services. This includes the restrictions placed on lung function testing procedures. 

However, the importance of spirometry for diagnosis and monitoring of asthma has not changed. To support you to perform spirometry in your practice confidently and safely in this current pandemic context, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and the Australia and New Zealand Society for Respiratory Science (ANZSRS) have compiled a set of guidelines on how to best prepare your patient, your team and your environment. 

View our two-part video summarising these new guidelines on performing spirometry safely in primary care settings.

Part 1: Infection control advice

Part 2: Infection control guidance for performing spirometry in primary care settings

The video was produced in association with Asthma Australia and funded by the Adelaide PHN. It supports the recently published position statement ‘Pulmonary function testing during SARS-CoV-2’ produced by the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Respiratory Science (ANZSRS) http://doi.org/10.1111/resp.14340

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