This is a document produced by a joint ATS-ERS Task Force on lung function testing to provide new combined standards for Spirometry. It walks the reader through all the important elements of the test, from instrument to procedure quality control. One of the major steps forward is the recommendation that a standardised computer output format should be available on all instruments. This does not require equipment manufacturers to store their data in a specific format, but it does require them to provide a means of delivering the data in a standard way. This means that users won't be tied to a specific manufacturer in order to maintain their database structure. It also means that it will be relatively easy to write software to move spirometric data into healthcare databases where they can be used to monitor and guide therapy for patients with lung diseases. Such data can also be used for clinical research, including research into the efficacy of using pulmonary function tests in managing patients. Furthermore, International Organization for Standardization metrology terminology (www.iso.org) has been adopted

This is a document produced by a joint ATS-ERS Task Force to suggest new interpretative strategies for lung function testing. It emphasises the importance of selecting appropriate reference values and lower limits of the normal range, and provides a good listing of available reference studies with suggestions for dealing with ethnicity. A detailed interpretative algorithm is presented, outlying the position of each test for a state-of-the-art diagnostic procedure in large hospital-based laboratories. Its use is not intended as mandatory and simpler assessments of pulmonary function are acceptable in different settings, keeping in mind the limitations that are inherent to simplicity. The assessment of reversibility of bronchoconstriction is covered in more detail than in previous documents, with reminders that a number of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients are more likely to respond with improvements of lung volumes than forced expiratory volume in one second

This is a document produced by a joint ATS-ERS Task Force on lung function testing to provide new combined standards for lung volume measurements. It largely reflects a document that was produced after an international workshop held in 1990, funded by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). That document was very large and never published in full print, but those interested in all the details can find it posted on the ATS website. In the new document, the relevant technical aspects and the limitations of the methods currently available for lung volume measurements are summarised in a user-friendly way. The position of lung volume measurements in the diagnosis of respiratory disorders and their cost-to-benefit ratio were probably the most controversial aspects of the Task Force