@article {Etter1249, author = {Etter, J-F.}, title = {Short-term change in self-reported COPD symptoms after smoking cessation in an internet sample}, volume = {35}, number = {6}, pages = {1249--1255}, year = {2010}, doi = {10.1183/09031936.00090509}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Smoking is the first risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Some recent reports suggest that, unexpectedly, some respiratory symptoms may increase transiently after smoking cessation, but there is a dearth of short-term data to test this hypothesis. The aim of the present study was to assess the validity of an online screening tool and to describe short-term associations between smoking behaviour and self-reported respiratory symptoms, in cross-sectional and longitudinal data. An internet survey was conducted in 2003{\textendash}2009, on a smoking cessation website, with a follow-up survey after 30 days. There were 15,916 participants at baseline and 1,831 at follow-up. In the 252 baseline smokers who had quit smoking at 30-day follow-up, there was a substantial decrease in the proportion of participants who declared that they often coughed even without a cold (from 51.6\% at baseline to 15.5\% at follow-up), expectorated when they coughed in the morning (from 47.6\% to 19.4\%), were out of breath after climbing stairs or after a quick walk (from 75.0\% to 48.4\%), and who had a wheezing respiration (from 33.7\% to 10.3\%) (p\<0.001 for all before/after comparisons). In participants who did not change their smoking behaviour between assessments, the test{\textendash}retest reliability was r = 0.87 for a score summing these four symptoms. Smoking cessation was followed by a rapid and substantial improvement in self-reported respiratory symptoms. COPD is largely underdiagnosed and undertreated. Internet screening is reliable and may allow for the early detection of COPD symptoms at a large scale, in patients who may otherwise have no access to COPD case-finding efforts.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {//www.qdcxjkg.com/content/35/6/1249}, eprint = {//www.qdcxjkg.com/content/35/6/1249.full.pdf}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }