ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Pulmonary Medicine
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1627615
Early Diagnostic and Prognostic Value of FEV₃/FEV₆ for COPD in Underserved Areas
Provisionally accepted
- 1The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Health Care Department, China
- 2The Eighth People's Hospital of Heb, Health Care Department, China
- 3The Eighth People's Hospital of Hebei, Respiratory Nephrology Department, China
- 4The Eighth People's Hospital of Hebei, Science and Education Section, China
- 5The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Infectious Diseases Department, China
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Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) presents a major global health burden. While FEV1/FVC is the diagnostic gold standard, its application is limited by patient compliance and procedural complexity. FEV3/FEV6 has been proposed as a simpler alternative for early COPD screening, but its diagnostic and prognostic value remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of FEV3/FEV6 in diagnosing mild to moderate COPD and predicting patient outcomes. Methods: A total of 200 patients suspected of having mild to moderate COPD underwent FEV3/FEV6 and FEV1/FVC testing from June 2019 to June 2021 and were followed for three years. Correlation analysis and ROC curve analysis were conducted. Results: FEV6 correlated strongly with FVC (r=0.981) and FEV3/FEV6 with FEV1/FVC (r=0.928). FEV3/FEV6 showed high diagnostic accuracy (AUC=0.953; sensitivity 87.92%; specificity 84.77%) and prognostic relevance (AUC=0.783; sensitivity 80.3%; specificity 66.2%). Conclusion: FEV3/FEV6 is a reliable tool for early diagnosis and prognosis assessment in mild to moderate COPD.
Keywords: FEV3, FEV6, COPD, early diagnosis, prognosis
Received: 22 May 2025; Accepted: 28 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Han, Yao, Zhao, Zhao and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Fang Zhao, The Eighth People's Hospital of Hebei, Respiratory Nephrology Department, China
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