Do Physicians Need Objective Measurements to Diagnose Asthma?1–3

The frequency with which disagreement occurs between the clinician's diagnosis of asthma and the objective measurement of methacholine airway responsiveness is not known. We have examined this in 51 consecutive new adult patients presenting with symptoms consistent with asthma but with normal spirometry. Disagreement between the physician's assessment and the result of the methacholine test occurred in 20 patients (39%). Of these, 13 had a …