Multicomponent Intervention to Decrease Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)-Related Hospitalizations

Multicomponent Intervention to Decrease COPD-related Hospitalizations

The investigators' proposed study is a randomized controlled trial that will prospectively examine the effect of a multicomponent intervention on the rate of hospitalizations, daily physical activity, self efficacy and health status in patients who have COPD and have been hospitalized because of a COPD exacerbation.

In the study, a convenience sample of patients recently hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation, who meet the selection criteria and agree to participate will be randomized to receive one of the following at the time of hospital discharge: (1) the current standard of care plus a multicomponent intervention (counselor + pulmonary rehabilitation) or (2) the current standard of care without the intervention.

This study plans to test the following hypotheses: (1) The primary outcome of the study to be the composite endpoint of death or COPD hospitalization (2) Time to first rehospitalization will be shorter in the intervention group than the control group (3) At follow-up, the physical activity level measured in terms of the average number of steps and active energy expenditure will be higher in the intervention group than in the control group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must be ≥40 years old
• Clinical diagnosis of COPD or pulmonary function testing reflecting an FEV1/FVC ratio of <0.70
• Current or previous smoker with at least 10 pack-years of cigarette smoking
• Recently hospitalized for an exacerbation of COPD

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a high likelihood of being lost to follow-up or contact (patients with active chemical dependency, are planning to move out of the state, are not living in the healthcare area, or have no telephone at home).
• Patents with characteristics that can confound the analysis of the primary outcome (patients who are living in a nursing home, have unresectable lung cancer, or have another advanced neoplasm).
• Patients with an inability to provide good data or follow commands (patients who are disoriented, have a severe neurologic or psychiatric condition).
• Patients with an inability to do mild exercise, such as cycling or walking, when their COPD is stable (patients who have orthopedic-neurologic problems; patients who have severe heart failure, characterized by an ejection fraction of <20% or by New York Heart Association Class IV disease; patients who should be at complete rest, confined to a bed or chair; or patients in whom any physical activity brings on discomfort and in whom symptoms occur at rest).