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Action Plan to Enhance Self-management and Early Detection of Exacerbations in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Interventions
Behavioral: Action plan
Registration Number
NCT00879281
Lead Sponsor
UMC Utrecht
Brief Summary

The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the hypothesis that the 'written' action plan, a self-management tool developed by the project group, enhances early detection and prompt action measures and consequently isbeneficial in exacerbation outcome (i.e., health status recovery time).

Detailed Description

Early detection of exacerbations by COPD patients initiating prompt interventions has shown to be clinically relevant. Until now, research failed to identify the effectiveness of a written individualized Action Plan (AP) to achieve this. The current multicenter, single-blind RCT with a follow-up period of 6 months, evaluates the hypothesis that individualized AP's reduce exacerbation recovery time. Patients are included from regular respiratory nurse visits and allocated to either usual care or an additional AP providing individualized treatment prescriptions (pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical) related to a colour coded symptom status (reinforcement at 1 and 4 months). Although usually not possible in self-management trials, we ensured blinding of patients, using a modified informed consent procedure in which patients give consent to postponed information. Exacerbations in both study arms are defined using the Anthonisen symptom diary-card algorithm. The Clinical COPD Questionnaire (CCQ) is assessed every 3-days. CCQ-recovery time of an exacerbation is our primary outcome. Additionally, healthcare utilisation, anxiety, depression, treatment delay, and self-efficacy are assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
233
Inclusion Criteria
  • post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 second/forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC) ratio < 70%
  • age > 40 years
  • complaints of chronic cough
  • smoking history of more than 20 years or 15 pack-years
  • diagnosis of COPD as major functionally limiting disease and
  • current use of bronchodilator therapy.
Exclusion Criteria
  • primary diagnosis of asthma
  • primary diagnosis of cardiac disease
  • presence of disease that could either effect mortality or participation in the study (e.g. confusional states).

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
2 InterventionAction planRegular Care + individualized "written" action plan to enhance self-mananagement and early detection/treatment of an exacerbation.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
CCQ-recovery time in the event of an exacerbation(Health status recovery time)6-months
Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Symptom recovery time in the event of an exacerbation6 months
Health Related Quality of Life - St George Respiratory Questionnairebaseline and 6 months follow-up
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)baseline and 6 months follow-up
Medical Research Council (MRC) Dyspnoea Scalebaseline and 6 months follow-up
Julius Self-Efficacy Scalebaseline and 6 months follow-up
Contact delay & treatment delay in the event of an exacerbation6 months
Exacerbation rates (Number of symptom-based / event-based exacerbations per patient year)6 months
Healthcare Utilization (The number of respiratory-related hospital admissions, hospital days, emergency room visits and scheduled and unscheduled visits or telephone calls to a RP and GP)6 months

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht

🇳🇱

Utrecht, Netherlands

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