International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2015
ReviewProfile of inhaled glycopyrronium bromide as monotherapy and in fixed-dose combination with indacaterol maleate for the treatment of COPD.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The cornerstone of pharmacological treatment for COPD is bronchodilation. Inhaled glycopyrronium bromide is a long-acting muscarinic antagonist developed as a maintenance treatment for patients with COPD. ⋯ A combination of glycopyrronium bromide with indacaterol maleate (QVA149) has recently been approved as a once-daily maintenance therapy in adult patients with COPD. Phase III trials (the IGNITE program) with QVA149 have demonstrated significant improvements in lung function versus placebo, glycopyrronium, and tiotropium in patients with moderate to severe COPD, with no safety concerns of note. Hence QVA149 is a safe treatment option for moderate to severe COPD patients in whom long-acting muscarinic antagonist monotherapy is inadequate.
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Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Age and smoking are common risk factors for COPD and other illnesses, often leading COPD patients to demonstrate multiple coexisting comorbidities. COPD exacerbations and comorbidities contribute to the overall severity in individual patients. ⋯ In this review, we focus on the major comorbidities that affect COPD patients. We present an overview of the problems faced, the reasons and risk factors for the most commonly encountered comorbidities, and the burden on health care costs. We also provide a rationale for approaching the therapeutic options of the COPD patient afflicted by comorbidity.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2015
Evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Nighttime Symptoms of COPD Instrument.
Nighttime symptoms can negatively impact the quality of life of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The Nighttime Symptoms of COPD Instrument (NiSCI) was designed to measure the occurrence and severity of nighttime symptoms in patients with COPD, the impact of symptoms on nighttime awakenings, and rescue medication use. The objective of this study was to explore item reduction, inform scoring recommendations, and evaluate the psychometric properties of the NiSCI. ⋯ The results suggest that the NiSCI can be used to determine the severity of nighttime COPD symptoms, the number of nighttime awakenings due to COPD symptoms, and the nighttime use of rescue medication. The NiSCI is a reliable and valid instrument to evaluate these concepts in COPD patients in clinical trials and clinical practice. Scoring recommendations and steps for further research are discussed.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2015
ReviewPalliative care in COPD: an unmet area for quality improvement.
COPD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Patients suffer from refractory breathlessness, unrecognized anxiety and depression, and decreased quality of life. Palliative care improves symptom management, patient reported health-related quality of life, cost savings, and mortality though the majority of patients with COPD die without access to palliative care. ⋯ Additionally, physicians avoid conversations about advance care planning due to unique communication barriers present with patients with COPD. Lastly, many health systems are not set up to provide trained palliative care physicians to patients with chronic disease including COPD. This review analyzes the above challenges, the available data regarding palliative care applied to the COPD population, and proposes an alternative approach to address the unmet needs of patients with COPD with proactive primary palliative care.
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Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis · Jan 2015
Multicenter Study Observational StudyFactors associated with inadequate diagnosis of COPD: On-Sint cohort analysis.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of inadequate diagnosis and factors predictive of this in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) participating in the On-Sint study. ⋯ Diagnosis of COPD was inadequate in half of the patients from the On-Sint cohort. There were multiple factors, both patient-related and physician-related, associated with this misdiagnosis.