Primary care COPD patients compared with large pharmaceutically-sponsored COPD studies: an UNLOCK validation study.

Abstract

BackgroundGuideline recommendations for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are based on the results of large pharmaceutically-sponsored COPD studies (LPCS). There is a paucity of data on disease characteristics at the primary care level, while the majority of COPD patients are treated in primary care.ObjectiveWe aimed to evaluate the external validity of six LPCS (ISOLDE, TRISTAN, TORCH, UPLIFT, ECLIPSE, POET-COPD) on which current guidelines are based, in relation to primary care COPD patients, in order to inform future clinical practice guidelines and trials.MethodsBaseline data of seven primary care databases (n=3508) from Europe were compared to baseline data of the LPCS. In addition, we examined the proportion of primary care patients eligible to participate in the LPCS, based on inclusion criteria.ResultsOverall, patients included in the LPCS were younger (mean difference (MD)-2.4; p=0.03), predominantly male (MD 12.4; p=0.1) with worse lung function (FEV1% MD -16.4; pConclusionPrimary care COPD patients stand out from patients enrolled in LPCS in terms of gender, lung function, quality of life and exacerbations. More research is needed to determine the effect of pharmacological treatment in mild to moderate patients. We encourage future guideline makers to involve primary care populations in their recommendations.