Respiratory medicine
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Respiratory medicine · Nov 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialCOPD in young patients: a pre-specified analysis of the four-year trial of tiotropium (UPLIFT).
Whilst recent large-scale studies have provided much evidence on the natural history and therapeutic response in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), relatively little is known about the effect in younger patients. We report a pre-specified post-hoc analysis of 356 patients with COPD ≤ 50 years old from the four year randomised, double blind placebo controlled Understanding Potential Long Term Impact on Function with Tiotropium (UPLIFT) trial. Inclusion criteria included a post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) of ≤70%, FEV(1)/FVC < 0.70, age ≥40 years, and smoking history of ≥10 pack years. ⋯ The rate of exacerbations was reduced by tiotropium (rate ratio (95%CI) = 0.73(0.56, 0.95)). Tiotropium resulted in sustained bronchodilation, improved quality of life, and a decreased exacerbation rate in younger patients. Tiotropium also resulted in a significant reduction in the decline in post-bronchodilator FEV(1), suggesting possible disease modification by tiotropium in younger patients with COPD.