Was this your first spirometry or a later one? What are you comparing 28% to: what was it before? Have you been sick? Were you feeling your best when you did the test? Did you get really good coaching on the test? What was the weather like? Any of those things can influence the results of the test.

If you're concerned because your FEV1 is down 3 to 5 percentage points, that's very psychologically disturbing (I know, I've been there!), but it's still within the acceptable variable range. If your FEV1 is down 10 or more percentage points, you and your pulmo should be concerned, especially if the drop can't be explained by illness or some other explanation. Drops that drastic are sometimes unexplainable.

If you don't have a serious exercise program that you follow, talk with your pulmo about that. Exercise can make a difference, especially in how you feel and what you can actually do, even if it doesn't help raise your FEV1.

@A MyCOPDTeam Member
Your pft results at hospital are your medical records.they cant be kept from you. Granted RT may not be forthcoming in telling you due to protocol. And hippa regulations. But you can request a copy of your results.

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A MyCOPDT...

When I was born and the first 8 years of my life I lived beside a cement works. I always had a green runny nose.
Everything was covered in cement dust...the leaves of trees and plants ...evwrything was crusted with cement dust. I guess that was not a good start for my lungs.

Yes I have told my specialist this...

Yes I've had a CT scan.
I don't know what my FEV1 was...the hospital are not very forthcoming in telling me the figures when I ask.

You might want to ask for a CT scan. Unless your doc has x-ray vision, he can't tell how bad the emphysema is. I would also question the idea that emphysema doesn't warrant it being so low......I'm not sure that makes any sense given what I know about emphysema. Again, what was your FEV1 when you had a previous PFT?