Active clinical trials for "Lung Diseases, Obstructive"

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major cause of chronic morbidity and mortality throughout the world, being the fourth leading cause of death in the world. This study is designed to detect COPD participants with Expiratory Flow Limitation. EFL occurs when the airways become compressed which usually results when a pressure outside the airway exceeds the pressure inside the airway. Participants will undergo study eligibility procedures at visit 1. At visit 2 participants will undergo a baseline auto-EPAP (Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure) measurement. Then the order will be randomized to three different treatment methods. Between each treatment there will be at least a 10 minute washout period in order for CO2 to stabilize and return to baseline.

Background: To effectively alleviate suffering and improve quality of life for patients with serious illness and their caregivers, palliative care (PC) services must be offered across multiple settings. Research is needed to determine how best to optimize home-based palliative care (HBPC) services to meet the needs of individuals with high symptom burden and functional limitations. Aim: The investigators will compare a standard HBPC model that includes routine home visits by a nurse and provider with a more efficient tech-supported HBPC model that promotes timely inter-professional team coordination via synchronous video consultation with the provider while the nurse is in the patient's home. The investigators hypothesize that tech-supported HBPC will be as effective as standard HBPC. Design: Cluster randomized trial. Registered nurses (n~130) will be randomly assigned to the tech-supported or standard HBPC model so that half of the patient-caregiver dyads will receive one of the two models. Setting/Participants: Kaiser Permanente (15 Southern California and Oregon sites). Patients (n=10,000) with any serious illness and a prognosis of 1-2 years and their caregivers (n=4,800) Methods: Patients and caregivers will receive standard PC services: comprehensive needs assessment and care planning, pain and symptom management, education/skills training, medication management, emotional/spiritual support; care coordination, referral to other services, and 24/7 phone assistance. Results: Primary patient outcomes: symptom improvement at 1 month and days spent at home in the last six months of life; caregiver outcome: perception of preparedness for caregiving. Conclusion: Should the more efficient tech-supported HBPC model achieves comparable improvements in outcomes that matter most to patients and caregivers, this would have a lasting impact on PC practice and policy.

This study will test the effectiveness of integrating an evidence-based model of home-based palliative (HBPC) within primary care clinics on patient and caregiver outcomes. The investigators will conduct a randomized controlled trial, randomizing 1,155 seriously ill patients (and approximately 884 family caregivers) who receive primary care from 30-40 regional accountable care organizations (ACOs) in California to one of two study groups: HBPC or enhanced usual care (EUC). Follow-up data will be collected via telephone surveys with patients at 1- and 2-months and with caregivers at 1- and 2-months, and, as appropriate, following the death of the patient.

The investigators are studying the impact of the interventions of a multidisciplinary team (MDT) - consisting of a Coventry case manager, social worker, and medical director, alongside a Medco specialist pharmacist - on the hospitalization rates of high risk seniors with chronic conditions, compared with a usual care approach. The study will also examine the impact on quality of life, medication adherence, medical costs, hospital readmission rates, and a variety of other important measures. The outcome of COSS may support a means to further enhance and develop a comprehensive care model program by leveraging the partnership between a health plan and a pharmacy benefit manager.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of performing a breathing muscle warm up before exercise in patients who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The main aim is to see whether performing a breathing muscle warm up can improve distance walked in a 6 minute walk test and also decrease perceptions of effort and breathlessness.

Improving the patient experience has become a major focus of quality improvement efforts in Ontario and in health systems worldwide. However, our existing knowledge base is relatively under-developed, particularly in how patients experience care as they transition from one care setting to another and the relationship between patient experience and clinical outcomes. The Patient Oriented Discharge Summary (PODS) is a discharge instruction tool created by patients, caregivers, health-care providers and design experts. It provides a written template for providers to engage patients and caregivers when reviewing important instructions on medications, activity and diet restrictions, follow-up appointments and worrisome symptoms warranting emergency care following admission to hospital. The PODS also uses plain and simple wording, large fonts, pictograms, and includes white space for patients to take notes and provides the option for translation of major headings into the most common spoken languages. The PODS impact study will study the impact of using the PODS versus usual discharge instructions on patient experience and health outcomes in a provincial-wide randomized study across acute care and rehabilitation hospitals.

To Determine whether use of the Respimetrix flow test device a) can determine "good" versus "poor" inhaler techniques, and b) the effects of the inhaler training on technique.

The purpose of the study is to verify the clinical effectiveness of a managed home telemonitoring program in patients with severe COPD against usual clinical practice, as measured by the decrease in the number of exacerbations, number of hospitalizations, hospital days and emergency room visits in a 12 month period The primary endpoint of effectiveness is "severe exacerbations avoided." The main hypothesis is that patients with severe or very severe COPD patients managed with a home telehealth program have better outcomes than patients managed according to usual clinical practice.

Randomized, placebo controlled trial evaluating efficacy of acetazolamide in preventing altitude related adverse health effects (ARAHE) in lowlanders with chronic obstructive lung disease travelling from 760 m to 3200 m.

This is a 12-week chronic-dosing study to assess the efficacy and safety of BGF MDI compared to BFF MDI in subjects with moderate to very severe COPD.