what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Middle-aged smokers should have phlegm tests to increase their chances of detecting lung disease early, the University of Hong Kong warned yesterday.



The warning for smokers aged 40 to 60 to take a sputum cytology test, where two samples of phlegm are taken, follows a landmark study by HKU doctors into the testing.



If the test turns up abnormal cells, patients need to undergo a bronchoscopy, after which nearly all cases of central airway lung cancer can be detected.

The original article can be found at: www.scmp.com

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

On the whole, this medical news story provided some useful general information, and could have been improved by providing better explanations and descriptions of this sputum test.



With reference to the 4 Unsatisfactory criteria: First, Sources of Information only referred to a single person. Second, Quality of Evidence was not mentioned (i.e. readers do not know whether the study is published and there is no mention of the origin/basis of the medical news story). Third, Quantifying Treatment Benefits only mentioned relative risks. Fourth, Treatment Costs and Options mentioned that the sputum test was "cheaper and less intrusive than a bronchoscopy" but did not elaborate.



Note: This study is published in Lung Cancer (2008 Nov 14). This fact could have been mentioned in the medical news story to make the Quality of Evidence criteria satisfactory.

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