Spirometry values for detecting a restrictive pattern in occupational health settings.

Background: Pulmonary function tests are valuable measures for diagnosis and management of respiratory diseases. In the field of occupational medicine, spirometry is commonly performed, and in a considerable number of spirometries during occupational health evaluations, restrictive pattern is observed without any respiratory symptoms and may necessitate referral of the subject for body plethysmography, which is an expensive test. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of spirometry for detection of restrictive lung pattern in an occupational setting.