Primary Care Respiratory Journal

Volume 18 Issue 3 September 2009

Original Research

Improving the process and outcome of care in COPD: development of a standardised assessment tool

Pages 208-215
^*Paul Jones^a, Gale Harding^b, Ingela Wiklund^c, Pamela Berry^c, Nancy Leidy^b

^aDepartment of Cardiac and Vascular Sciences, St. George's Hospital, University of London, London, UK

^bCenter for Health Outcomes Research, United BioSource Corporation, Maryland, USA

^cGlaxoSmithKline, Middlesex, UK

Received 16 March 2009 • Accepted 12 July 2009 • Online 18 August 2009

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: A major goal of COPD treatment is to reduce symptom burden and ensure that the patient’s health is as good as possible. This goal requires regular systematic assessment of the patient’s COPD with clear and efficient communication between the patient and clinician. AIM: To explore patient and physician descriptions of COPD attributes, in order to inform content development of a patient-reported clinical assessment tool. METHODS: Qualitative research methods (one-to-one interviews and patient focus groups) were used to elicit key characteristics to evaluate COPD health status and explore how patients with COPD experience their condition. ATLAS.ti version 5.0 was used to identify major themes and generate an item pool. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients with COPD (GOLD stages 1–4; MRC grades 2–5) and 10 clinicians participated in this research. Twenty-one items were generated, capturing patient assessment of breathlessness, wheeze, cough, sleep, activity limitation, energy/fatigue, social function, and anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: This qualitative study identified a broad range of items that are potentially suitable for inclusion in a short, simple COPD assessment tool for use in routine clinical practice.

Cite as: Jones P, Harding G, Wiklund I, Berry P, Leidy N. Improving the process and outcome of care in COPD: development of a standardised assessment tool. Prim Care Respir J 2009;18(3):208-215. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4104/pcrj.2009.00053

Keywords
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), optimal management, health status assessment, questionnaire, chronic bronchitis

* Corresponding author. Paul Jones Tel: +44 020 8672 9944 Fax: +44 020 8725 5955 Email: pjones@sgul.ac.uk

	View full text as PDF document
	Right click on this DOI link and copy link/shortcut to cite this article (What is a DOI link?)
	Export to bibliographic software or plain text
	Post to CiteULike
	Email this article to friend/s or colleague/s
	Cited by