A study revealed that a set of simple symptom-based questionnaires combined with an airflow measurement test can help easily identify patients suffering from COPD at a much earlier stage. An international research team, led by experts at the University of Birmingham, working with primary care patients in China, have discovered that a simple questionnaire and microspirometry could provide the most efficient way of identifying large numbers of undiagnosed, untreated adults suffering from lung diseases.  The authors of the study, which was published in BMJ Open, stated that COPD develops slowly, resulting in delays in symptom recognition and high rates of underdiagnosis. The first step could be this strategy in providing people with early treatment and potentially saving several lives and reducing the burden on the healthcare system, they said in the report.