Accurate Recognition of Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Generation and Cognitive Testing of Informative and Suitable Items for a COPD Exacerbation Recognition Tool (CERT) for Detection of Exacerbations of COPD in Chinese Patients

It has been observed that COPD exacerbations are under-reported in China. One of the reasons for this is Chinese subjects with COPD cannot describe the symptoms of exacerbation mentioned in English. Hence this study aims to create a tool called CERT that will help Chinese physicians and subjects with COPD to recognize and report exacerbations. The study will be carried out in 4 stages: item identification, cognitive briefing, item reduction and creation of final CERTs. Two CERTs will be prepared, one for subjects with COPD and another for physicians. A total of approximately 200 subjects will be included in the study and each subject will contribute to only one step.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female of age greater than or equal to 40 years.
• Spirometrically confirmed COPD according to diagnostic criteria in Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2016.
• A treated exacerbation of COPD within 3 months prior to the study visit.
• Willing and able to provide informed consent, and able to participate in focus groups or cognitive interviews.
• Literacy is not a requirement for any of the groups.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current diagnosis of asthma or clinically relevant bronchiectasis. Note: Subjects with Asthma COPD Overlap Syndrome (ACOS) are eligible.
• Subjects with a concurrent significant, uncontrolled, active medical condition or disease state of other organ diseases or systematic diseases; psychiatric condition; cognitive impairment or any other reasons that in the investigator's opinion, would place subjects at risk or interfere with study evaluation or affect participation in the study.