SynthesisInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Small Airways Response to Bronchodilators in Adults with Asthma or COPD: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Can measures of small airway dysfunction aid with the diagnosis or management of asthma exacerbations? A systematic review.BMJ open respiratory research · 2025Pooled it
- Clinical characteristics, symptom burden, and pulmonary function trajectories of spirometry- and MMEF-defined bronchodilator responsiveness in COPD: a single-center prospective study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Asthma-like bronchodilator responsiveness in patients with neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Small Airways Disease in Patients With COPD: A Question-and-Answer Approach for Everyday Clinical Practice.Chest · 2026Review
- Physiological Small Airways Dysfunction and the Bronchodilator Response in Adults With Asthma and Its Risk Factors: A Retrospective Analysis.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2025Article
- The prevalence of small airways disease and association with handgrip strength in young Hispanic farmworkers.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2024Article
- Clinical characterization and outcomes of impulse oscillometry-defined bronchodilator response: an ECOPD cohort-based study.Respiratory research · 2024Observational
- Bronchodilator Responsiveness Measured by Spirometry and Impulse Oscillometry in Patients with Asthma After Short Acting Antimuscarinic and/or Beta-2-Agonists Inhalation.Journal of asthma and allergy · 2024Article
- The utility of quantitative computed tomography in cohort studies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a narrative review.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Review
- Small airways dysfunction: The importance of utilising Z-scores to define MMEF abnormalities in clinical practice.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Small airways in asthma: Pathophysiology, identification and management.Chinese medical journal pulmonary and critical care medicine · 2023Review
- The prevalence of bronchodilator responsiveness of the small airway (using mid-maximal expiratory flow) in COPD - a retrospective study.BMC pulmonary medicine · 2022Article
- Reference equations for oscillometry and their differences among populations: a systematic scoping review.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2022Article
- Potentiality of impulse oscillometry to evaluate bronchodilator reversibility in untreated adult patients with newly diagnosed asthma.Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBronchodilator responsiveness (BDR) is commonly used in the diagnosis of lung disease. Although small airways dysfunction is a feature of asthma and COPD, physiological tests of small airways are not included in guidelines for BDR testing. This systematic review assessed the current evidence of BDR using small airways function in asthma and COPD.
methodsThe systematic review used standard methodology with the protocol prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020164140). Electronic medical databases (EMBASE and Medline) were searched using related keywords. Abstracts and full texts were screened independently by two reviewers. Studies that reported the change of physiological small airways function and FEV
resultsA total of 934 articles were identified, with 12 meeting the inclusion criteria. Ten studies included asthma patients, 1 study included COPD patients and 1 study included both asthma and COPD. A total of 1104 participants were included, of whom 941 were asthmatic, 64 had COPD and 109 were healthy controls. Studies were heterogeneous in design including the device, dose and time intervals for BDR assessment. A small airway BDR was seen for most tests in asthma and COPD, including oscillometry (R5-20, reactance (X5), area of reactance (AX) and resonant frequency (Fres)) and Maximal Mid Expiratory Flow.
conclusionThere is a measurable BDR in the small airways. However, with no consensus on how to assess BDR, studies were heterogeneous. Further research is needed to inform how BDR should be assessed, its clinical impact and place in routine clinical practice.
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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.