Nationwide Assessment of Pulmonary Function Testing Practices and Safety Compliance During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) presented considerable challenges to health services, particularly for a routine assessment method, the pulmonary function tests (PFTs), which can generate aerosols and require sharing common surfaces. Despite these risks, there is a need to continue testing, especially for vulnerable patient groups.

Material and methods: An online survey was conducted from June 1 to June 26, 2020, to assess pulmonologists’ practices regarding PFTs before and during the pandemic’s first peak in Türkiye (March 11-May 20, 2020). The survey included 30 anonymized questions and received ethical committee approval. Statistical analysis was performed using the IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences statistical package.

Results: Two hundred and forty-three respondents across 59 cities participated in the study. 93% were pulmonologists. 77.4% of PFT labs have adequate ventilation by having a window enabling room direct air exchange. 27.2% of the PFT labs continued testing during the first peak of the pandemic. 83.3% of the responding centers applied triage before testing. Ongoing tests included spirometry (100%), bronchodilator reversibility testing (62.1%), and carbon-monoxide diffusion testing (16.7%). 49% of the PFT labs conducted fewer than four tests daily, while 21.2% performed more than eight. PFT technicians used personal protective equipment, with 67.7% using eye protection and 75.3 % wearing FFP3 or FFP2 masks.

Conclusion: The survey found that pulmonologists have acted quickly and made moderate success in making preparations in PFT labs for the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, safer practice in PFT units still needs to be implemented.