Table 3

Selection of quotes from participants arguing for or against statement 2 (“It is justifiable to measure the lung function of people who have been heavy smokers for a long time.”)

Agree	Disagree
The fact that you smoke doesn’t imply that you have to disregard your health status. It should even be compulsory. People tell you, “smoking is bad for you”, but in fact, far too little fuss is being made about it. It would be good to do these tests as a matter of routine, as a preventive measure to detect diseases. It’s a good opportunity to detect diseases at an early stage, which can motivate people to stop smoking. People have to be forcefully confronted with the facts. You can’t be too clear about this! There’s no harm in it anyway. It’s a good idea to monitor the process, since smoking puts your airways at risk. If my lungs should turn out to have deteriorated from smoking, I would definitely change my ways. It’s a “must”, for the sake of your own health. Everyone knows smoking is bad for you, but the message is probably more convincing if it’s backed up by figures. It’s better to look forward than to look backward. If you wait too long, you might one day think “if only I’d acted sooner”. Many people are unaware of the real consequences of smoking. You want to know the state of your health, so that you take action at an early stage if necessary. Yes, it’s the moment of truth. It’s your own choice to smoke, so your GP is allowed to measure your pulmonary function. Smokers often won’t admit that they’re addicted, but such tests force you to face facts. If you’re addicted, you don’t know your limits. Such a confrontation makes you aware of them. You can’t fool yourself. It’s a bad habit, and such a clear confrontation may be that little extra push you need to finally quit.	People should be given a free choice in this respect. If you have no complaints, there’s no point. It’s always your own choice. Some people have no problem at all with the fact that they smoke. It’s a form of discrimination. That’s for people to decide for themselves! Whether someone smokes or not is up to them. Everybody knows that smoking is bad for your health, especially for the airways. Routine measurements, that’s overdoing it. Only if you have any complaints, at your GP’s advice. You’re old and wise enough to know it’s bad for you. I really think it’s patronising, doctors are interfering too much. The media, doctors, etc: we’re being swamped with rules.

Agree

Disagree

The fact that you smoke doesn’t imply that you have to disregard your health status.
It should even be compulsory. People tell you, “smoking is bad for you”, but in fact, far too little fuss is being made about it.
It would be good to do these tests as a matter of routine, as a preventive measure to detect diseases.
It’s a good opportunity to detect diseases at an early stage, which can motivate people to stop smoking.
People have to be forcefully confronted with the facts. You can’t be too clear about this!
There’s no harm in it anyway.
It’s a good idea to monitor the process, since smoking puts your airways at risk.
If my lungs should turn out to have deteriorated from smoking, I would definitely change my ways. It’s a “must”, for the sake of your own health.
Everyone knows smoking is bad for you, but the message is probably more convincing if it’s backed up by figures.
It’s better to look forward than to look backward. If you wait too long, you might one day think “if only I’d acted sooner”.
Many people are unaware of the real consequences of smoking.
You want to know the state of your health, so that you take action at an early stage if necessary.
Yes, it’s the moment of truth.
It’s your own choice to smoke, so your GP is allowed to measure your pulmonary function.
Smokers often won’t admit that they’re addicted, but such tests force you to face facts.
If you’re addicted, you don’t know your limits. Such a confrontation makes you aware of them.
You can’t fool yourself. It’s a bad habit, and such a clear confrontation may be that little extra push you need to finally quit.

People should be given a free choice in this respect.
If you have no complaints, there’s no point.
It’s always your own choice. Some people have no problem at all with the fact that they smoke.
It’s a form of discrimination.
That’s for people to decide for themselves!
Whether someone smokes or not is up to them.
Everybody knows that smoking is bad for your health, especially for the airways. Routine measurements, that’s overdoing it.
Only if you have any complaints, at your GP’s advice.
You’re old and wise enough to know it’s bad for you.
I really think it’s patronising, doctors are interfering too much. The media, doctors, etc: we’re being swamped with rules.

Of the 177 participants who agreed with the statement, 57% (n = 100) argued that measuring lung function raises consciousness about the negative effects of smoking and 34% (n = 60) justified it with early detection and prevention of disease. Using lung function as part of a regular health check-up was an argument brought up by 14% (n = 24), and 21% (n = 37) found that it was justified because it increases the motivation to stop smoking. (The percentages do not add up to 100 because participants could use multiple arguments, up to a maximum of 5.) The mean number of arguments used was about the same (mean range 1.6–1.7) in all three intervention groups. There was also no difference between the groups in the number of arguments from the different clusters.