COPD

Abstract

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a major public health problem. It is the fourth leading cause of chronic morbidity and mortality in the United States, and is projected to rank third in 2020 in the burden of disease caused worldwide. Pharmacologic therapy is used to prevent and control symptoms, reduce the frequency and severity of exacerbations, improve health status, and improve exercise tolerance. Most studies have indicated that the existing medications for COPD do not modify the long-term decline in lung function that is the hallmark of this disease. The effects of these medications for COPD have been confirmed by large-scale multi-center clinical trials. In this section, we reviewed how to carry out multi-center clinical trials of pharmacotherapy for COPD. Specifically, we focus on the preparation of the protocol, setup of clinical endpoints, and the analysis of the data. In addition, we introduce other recent topics in this field. We also explain the pitfalls of the recent clinical trials that have examined COPD.