ArticleERJ open research2019
Outcomes reported on the management of COPD exacerbations: a systematic survey of randomised controlled trials.
Article in ERJ open research, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- COPD maintenance trials use heterogeneous outcomes and measurement instruments: a systematic literature review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Pooled it
- High flow nasal oxygen for acute type two respiratory failure: a systematic review.F1000Research · 2021Pooled it
- The prevalence and assessment of pain and dyspnoea in acute exacerbations of COPD: A systematic review.Chronic respiratory diseasePooled it
- Targeted Retreatment of Incompletely Recovered Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbations with Ciprofloxacin. A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Multicenter, Phase III Clinical Trial.American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine · 2020Trial
- A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Control Feasibility Trial of Immunoglobulin Treatment for Prevention of Recurrent Acute Exacerbations of COPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary diseaseTrial
- Implementing acute exacerbations of COPD care bundles: evidence, effectiveness and future directions.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Article
- Pain and Dyspnea During Acute Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Documentation Audit 2019-2020.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Association of Patient-Reported Outcome Patterns and Major Clinical Factors with Frailty in Stable COPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025Article
- Factors Associated with Initial Treatment Failure in Inpatients with Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Cohort Study.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2025Article
- Self-report underestimates the frequency of the acute respiratory exacerbations of COPD but is associated with BAL neutrophilia and lymphocytosis: an observational study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Observational
- Effectiveness of immunoglobulin replacement therapy in preventing infections in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review.Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2024Article
- ERS International Congress 2022: highlights from the Airway Diseases Assembly.ERJ open research · 2023Review
- Targeting interleukin-33 and thymic stromal lymphopoietin pathways for novel pulmonary therapeutics in asthma and COPD.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2023Review
- Inspiring stories: the impact that being part of ERS activities can have on a professional career.Breathe (Sheffield, England) · 2022Article
- Assessing Treatment Success or Failure as an Outcome in Randomised Clinical Trials of COPD Exacerbations. A Meta-Epidemiological Study.Biomedicines · 2021Article
- Current developments and future directions in COPD.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2020Article
- Outcomes Evaluated in Controlled Clinical Trials on the Management of COVID-19: A Methodological Systematic Review.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Mortality prediction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease comparing the GOLD 2015 and GOLD 2019 staging: a pooled analysis of individual patient data.ERJ open research · 2020Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the management of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) report heterogeneous outcome measures, thus rendering their results incomparable, complicating their translation into clinical practice. As a first step in the development of a core outcome set that will aim to homogenise outcome measures in future RCTs, we assessed the outcomes reported in recent relevant RCTs and systematic reviews. We conducted a methodological systematic review (https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/ registration number CRD42016052437) of RCTs and systematic reviews on COPD exacerbation management indexed on Medline and PubMed during the last decade. We evaluated their methodology, specifically focusing on the reported outcome measures. Based on 123 RCTs and 38 systematic reviews, we found significant variability in the outcomes reported and in their definition. Mortality, which was assessed in 82% of the included trials, was the most frequently assessed outcome, followed by the rate of treatment success or failure (63%), adverse events (59%), health status, symptoms and quality of life (59%), lung function (47%), and duration of exacerbations (42%). The significant heterogeneity in the selection and definition of outcome measures in RCTs and systematic reviews limits the interpretability and comparability of their results, and warrants the development of a core outcome set for COPD exacerbations management.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.