Active clinical trials for "Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive"

No previous studies have evaluated the frequency and severity of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) symptoms over a period of 24 hours (early morning, daytime and nigth-time symptoms) in stable COPD patients seen in clinical practice in Brazil. COPD is a common disease seen by primary care physicians and one of the most common diseases referred and diagnosed by pulmonologists. According to previous studies, symptoms of COPD can have a substantial impact on patients' quality of life and present a considerable degree of variation for the same degree of airflow limitation. The objective of this study is to learn more about the burden of symptoms in the real-world population of COPD patients in Brazil. With the real life data coming from this study, it will be possible to describe 24-hour COPD symptoms in Brazil and their impact on patients' quality of life and other PROs, the relationship with patients´ behaviour regarding adherence to respiratory medication and burden of COPD symptoms in terms of the impact on health economics. In the present study, the investigators will assess and characterize COPD symptoms over a period of 24 hours, by collecting information about the respiratory symptoms experienced at different times of the day and night in patients with stable COPD under real clinical practice conditions. In addition, the investigators will evaluate the correlation between each of these symptoms and the GOLD classification, adherence to respiratory treatment, level of dyspnea, disease severity, comorbidities and physical activity. Finally, the investigators will assess the relationship between 24h symptoms and direct cost related to treatment and HRU in the previous year to assess the burden of COPD symptoms. The present study is based on a similar protocol applied in Latin-American patients, the LASSYC Study. Extracted data will be used for a Brazilian analysis of these outcomes and may be used in future analyses combined with the results of LASSYC Study for a global view of Latin America.

The present study will explore the patients satisfaction to COPD medical treatment (i.e. pharmacological and not pharmacological treatment) in a clinical real-world setting and how the satisfaction for medical treatment is related to clinical parameters, quality of life, illness perception and treatment adherence evolution. Moreover health care resource consumption will be observed during the observation period.

This study will examine the inflammatory response to exercise encompassed as part of a standard pulmonary rehabilitation programme in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Patients will be split into two groups, frequent exacerbators or infrequent exacerbators, dependent upon exacerbation history to compare responses to pulmonary rehabilitation amongst phenotypes.

To establish the feasibility of a tool that monitors and motivates people with COPD to complete training in mindful pursed-lip breathing to enhance pulmonary rehabilitation at home.

For patients admitted to the medical ward, it is usually difficult to predict if their clinical condition will deteriorate, however subtle changes in vital signs are usually present 8 to 24 hours before a life-threatening event such as respiratory failure leading to ICU admission, or unanticipated cardiac arrest. Such adverse trends in clinical observations can be missed, misinterpreted or not appreciated as urgent. New continuous and wearable 24/7 clinical vital parameter monitoring systems offer a unique possibility to identify clinical deterioration before patients progress beyond the point-of-no-return, where adverse events are inevitable. The WARD-COPD project aims to determine the number and duration of cardiopulmonary micro events during the first 4 days after hospital admission with Acute Exacerbation of COPD. We will also test the server installation, develop a database of core data and assess the frequency of artefacts and failure to capture the continuous monitoring signal.

Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are the first cause of admission to Pulmonary Department in Italy and worldwide. Guidelines recommend treating most patients hospitalized for exacerbations of COPD with antibiotics, even if the role of bacterial infection is often uncertain and the effect of antibiotics poor. The recommendation to use antibiotics is guided by clinical signs and symptoms that have an insufficient diagnostic accuracy, whereas serum biomarkers as procalcitonin (PRO-CT) may guide the selection of COPD patients who need antibiotic treatment. The main aim of the study is to investigate whether antibiotics can be safely stopped after 3 days or continued for 10 days according to a PRO-CT-guided algorithm in patients hospitalized for exacerbations of COPD for whom guidelines recommend 3-10 days antibiotic treatment based on presence of increased dyspnoea, sputum and purulence. The study is designed to assess the non inferiority of the PRO-CT guided plan as compared to the standard guideline recommended plan. The PRO-CT guided withholding of antibiotics is viewed as an experimental intervention associated with less antibiotic-associated complications, eg antibiotic resistance and drug-related side-effect and lower costs. The proposed study is a prospective, randomised controlled, single-blinded intervention trial comparing the standard with a PRO-CT guided antibiotic treatment plan. Patients will be recruited from the Pulmonary Department of 18 University or City Hospitals in Italy, starting October 2006 and continuing until December 2010. Results expected by end of 2011. The 100 patients randomised to the standard non PRO-CT guided antibiotic treatment plan will continue antibiotics for 10 days, whereas the 100 patients randomised to the PRO-CT guided antibiotic treatment plan will continue for 10 days or stop antibiotics on day 3 depending on PRO-CT levels measured at admission, day 1 and day 2. Serum PRO-CT will be measured in a central laboratory. Patients will be examined at admission, discharge, 10 days, 1, 3 and 6 months. A telephone interview will be obtained at 2, 4 and 5 months. The primary outcome of the study will be the rate of exacerbations. Secondary outcomes will be hospital readmission, admission to ICU, change in FEV1, duration of hospitalization, and death. The sample size was estimated according to the primary outcome of the study.

The aim of the study is to measure the inspiratory flow that the different patient groups (asthmatic children, adults and elderly, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients) generate through empty Easyhaler (two versions) and Turbuhaler inhalers. In addition, the handling and acceptability of the inhalers will be compared in asthmatic children.

The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is an NIH Roadmap initiative to develop a computerized system measuring patient-reported outcomes in respondents with a wide range of chronic diseases and demographic characteristics. In the first four years of its existence, the PROMIS network developed item banks for measuring patient-reported outcomes in the areas of pain, fatigue, emotional distress, physical function, and social functioning. During the item banking process, the PROMIS network conducted focus groups, individual cognitive interviews, and lexile (reading level) analyses to refine the meaning, clarity, and literacy demands of all items. The item banks were administered to over 20,000 respondents and calibrated using models based on item response theory (IRT). Using these IRT calibrations, computerized adaptive test (CAT) algorithms were developed and implemented. The network has designed a series of studies using clinical populations to evaluate the item attributes, examine their utility as CATs, and validate the item banks. More information on the PROMIS network can be found at www.nihpromis.org. This study is designed to examine how differences in modes of data capture affect psychometric properties and score differences and to evaluate the consistency of these results across three PROMIS health domains: emotional distress-depression, fatigue, and physical function. Four modes of administration will be compared: interactive voice response (IVR) technology, paper and pencil questionnaire, personal computer, and personal digital assistant (PDA). A total of 800 patients will be enrolled from three diagnostic groups: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), depression, and rheumatoid arthritis. The study will test for equivalence across modes of administration, with the hypothesis that there are no mode effects; if mode effects are found, their magnitude across modes will be estimated. This network project will result in an improved understanding of the effect of assessment mode on patient-reported outcome (PRO) data. Guidance from this project can help in planning future PROMIS activities beyond the present PROMIS program.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the influence of diaphragm mobility on exercise capacity and dyspnoea in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The purpose of this trial is to verify if an osteopathic treatment added to usual pulmonary rehabilitation trial is able to improve the walking ability of COPD patients and if there is any influence on lung functionality.