BMC pulmonary medicine
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEffectiveness of the Assessment of Burden of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (ABC) tool: study protocol of a cluster randomised trial in primary and secondary care.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a growing worldwide problem that imposes a great burden on the daily life of patients. Since there is no cure, the goal of treating COPD is to maintain or improve quality of life. We have developed a new tool, the Assessment of Burden of COPD (ABC) tool, to assess and visualize the integrated health status of patients with COPD, and to provide patients and healthcare providers with a treatment algorithm. This tool may be used during consultations to monitor the burden of COPD and to adjust treatment if necessary. The aim of the current study is to analyse the effectiveness of the ABC tool compared with usual care on health related quality of life among COPD patients over a period of 18 months. ⋯ The new ABC tool complies with the 2014 Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease guidelines, which describe the necessity to classify patients on both their airway obstruction and a comprehensive symptom assessment. It has been developed to classify patients, but also to provide visual insight into the burden of COPD and to provide treatment advice.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyEfficacy and safety of fluticasone furoate 100 μg and 200 μg once daily in the treatment of moderate-severe asthma in adults and adolescents: a 24-week randomised study.
Inhaled corticosteroids are a mainstay of therapy for persistent asthma, but suboptimal adherence with twice-daily use is widespread. Fluticasone furoate (FF) is a new inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) suitable for once-daily dosing in asthma. This study was performed to descriptively assess the efficacy and safety of two doses of FF, with no planned formal statistical hypothesis testing. ⋯ Improvements from baseline in trough FEV1 were observed after 24 weeks of treatment with both doses of FF, with a numerically greater improvement in FEV1 observed in patients receiving FF 200 μg. Secondary endpoint findings were similar between groups. No safety concerns were identified during the study.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyEfficacy of a multifactorial intervention on therapeutic adherence in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a randomized controlled trial.
Therapeutic adherence of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is poor. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention on improving the therapeutic adherence in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with scheduled inhalation therapy. ⋯ Application of the multifactorial intervention designed for this study (COPD information, dose reminders, audio-visual material, motivational aspects and training in inhalation techniques) resulted in an improvement in therapeutic adherence in COPD patients with scheduled inhalation therapy.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyExtrafine beclomethasone/formoterol compared to fluticasone/salmeterol combination therapy in COPD.
The study evaluated the efficacy of beclomethasone dipropionate/formoterol fumarate (BDP/FF) extrafine combination versus fluticasone propionate/salmeterol (FP/S) combination in COPD patients. ⋯ BDP/FF extrafine combination provides COPD patients with an equivalent improvement of dyspnoea and a faster bronchodilation in comparison to FP/S.
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BMC pulmonary medicine · Jan 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyExacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease receiving physical therapy: a cohort-nested randomised controlled trial.
Physical exercise training aims at reducing disease-specific impairments and improving quality of life in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD exacerbations in particular negatively impact COPD progression. Physical therapy intervention seems indicated to influence exacerbations and their consequences. However, information on the effect of physical therapy on exacerbation occurrence is scarce. This study aims to investigate the potential of a protocol-directed physical therapy programme as a means to prevent or postpone exacerbations, to shorten the duration or to decrease the severity of exacerbations in patients with COPD who have recently experienced an exacerbation. Besides, this study focuses on the effect of protocol-directed physical therapy on health status and quality of life and on cost-effectiveness and cost-utility in patients with COPD who have recently experienced an exacerbation. ⋯ Ways to minimise potential problems regarding the execution of this study will be discussed.