Even though the main risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is smoking only in less than one third of the smokers the clinically manifest COPD will develop. The disease progressive nature with high disability and mortality especially in the final stages makes it plausible to detect the disease as early as possible thus allowing for the early intervention. Major intervention trials in COPD, "Towards a Revolution in COPD Health" (TORCH), "Investigating New Standards for Prophylaxis in Reducing Exacerbations" (INSPIRE), and "Understanding Potential Long-term Impacts on Function with Tiotropium" (UPLIFT) have recently shown that the beneficial impact of intervention was larger in patients being treated in earlier stages of the disease development. Till now the only tool for an early diagnosis and early intervention that could be used on the global scale was spirometry even though symptoms and deprivation of quality of life (QoL) precedes clinically relevant spirometric changes. So there is a need for a new simple tool that would allow detection of patients in a very early stage of COPD. So the aim of this study is the development of diagnostic tools for an early detection of COPD, even before the significant change in spirometry.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
450
University Hospital Osijek
Osijek, Slavonsko-Baranjska, Croatia
General Hospital Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, Croatia
University Hospital Rijeka
Rijeka, Croatia
Clinical Hospital Center, Split
Split, Croatia
Children's Hospital Srebrnjak
Zagreb, Croatia
Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb
Zagreb, Croatia
Inner consistency, repeatability, intelligibility, and applicability of MARKO questionnaire
MARKO questionnaire will be tested for inner consistency, repeatability, intelligibility, applicability after the patient is diagnosed as having COPD and staged for severity of COPD by pulmologist. Patients will be tested twice using the same MARKO QoL questionnaire: first time at the recruitment at the primary health clinic and the second time at pulmologist office. It will be tested for it's potential to differentiate between patients with different stages of COPD.
Time frame: 4 weeks after recruitment visit (2 yrs after start of recruitment)
Discriminative power of MARKO questionnaire combined with screening lung function measurement for diagnosis of COPD
Discriminative power of MARKO questionnaire combined with screening lung function measurement using COPD6 lung function screening apparatus will be assessed for different stages of COPD based on the assessment of the diagnosis and staging of COPD made by pulmologist according to Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines.
Time frame: 4 weeks after recruitment visit (2 yrs after start of recruitment)
The percentage of patients progressing from GOLD 0 stage to GOLD I stage or higher
The percentage of patients progressing from GOLD 0 stage to GOLD I stage or higher will be assessed based on two evaluation by pulmologist: the first one 4 weeks after recruitment when diagnosis and staging of COPD will be made and the second one after 2 (3,5) years of follow up of patient in stages GOLD 0 and I. Patients will be characterized as GOLD 0 on the first visit if they are eligible for the study and have the lung function within the normal range or as GOLD I if they have FEV1/FVC \<0.7 and FEV1 \>80% of normal.
Time frame: After 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years of follow-up
Discriminative power of MARKO questionnaire combined with screening lung function measurement for an early diagnosis of COPD
Discriminative power of MARKO questionnaire combined with screening lung function measurement using COPD6 lung function screening device will be assessed for an early diagnosis of COPD based on the comparison of two groups of patients: patients progressing from GOLD 0 stage to GOLD I stage or higher after 2 (3, 5) years of follow-up based on the evaluation by pulmologist according to GOLD guidelines. Patients will be characterized as GOLD 0 if they have the lung function within the normal range or as GOLD I if they have FEV1/FVC \<0.7 and FEV1 \>80% of normal.
Time frame: After 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years of follow-up
Prevalence of concomitant disorders in this population
Time frame: 4 weeks after recruitment visit (2 yrs after start of recruitment)
Sensitivity of diagnostic parameters for early impairment in COPD
Diagnostic parameters will be assessed after the finish of recruitment for their sensitivity for an early impairment in COPD. The sensitivity will be assessed based on their discriminative power between COPD stages 0 and I.
Time frame: 4 weeks after recruitment visit (2 yrs after start of recruitment)
Predictability of developed screening questionnaire (MARKO questionnaire), and markers of early impairment in COPD for the progression of COPD
Time frame: After 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years of follow-up
Comparison of MARKO questionnaire with other diagnostic tools used for evaluation of patients
MARKO QoL questionnaire will be compared with other diagnostic tools used for evaluation of COPD patients (medical history, physical examination, spirometry parameters, diffusion capacity of lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO), 6 minute walk test, The St George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ), lung function measured with COPD6 lung function screening device, COPD Assessment Test (CAT))
Time frame: After 2 years, 3 years, and 5 years of follow-up
Prevalence of different stages of COPD (specifically GOLD stages 0 and I) in the population at risk for COPD and in general population
Time frame: 4 weeks after recruitment visit (2 yrs after start of recruitment)
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