Chronic low-grade systemic inflammation is frequently observed in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), e.g., elevated pentameric CRP (pCRP). However, pCRP can dissociate to form monomeric CRP (mCRP) which exhibits a clear pro inflammatory behaviour in contrast to the more anti-inflammatory properties of pCRP. Therefore, mCRP may be an informative biomarker to demonstrate chronic low-grade systemic inflammation. This was confirmed by analysing serum samples from 38 patients with COPD and 18 non-COPD control persons (NCCP). mCRP was significantly elevated in patients with COPD vs. NCCP, indicating that mCRP might be considered as a new sensitive marker of chronic low-grade systemic inflammation. ; Flemish governmentEuropean Commission; FWO-grantFWO [11B4718N]; Limburgs Kankerfonds
In 2014, we were proud to launch the European Respiratory Society (ERS)/European Lung Foundation (ELF) campaign: Healthy Lungs for Life (HLfL; www.healthylungsforlife.org); a lung health campaign to educate all stakeholders about the importance of prevention and management of lung disease and how this can be achieved. Our inaugural theme, "Breathe Clean Air", was a timely and impactful topic to kick off with and resonated across the globe with politicians in the EU, journalists in a range of countries, scientists carrying out research with funding from HLfL, the people of Munich who had their lungs tested while the ERS International Congress took place, and those who attended events held by our collaborators across the globe, from India to the USA to New Zealand.
OBJECTIVES: To ascertain the stakeholders' views and devise recommendations for further stages of the Wearable Sensing and Smart Cloud Computing for Integrated Care to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients with Co-morbidities (WELCOME) system development. This system aims to create a wearable vest to monitor physiological signals for patients concerned incorporating an inhaler adherence monitoring, weight, temperature, blood pressure and glucose metres, and a mobile health application for communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs). DESIGN: A study of qualitative data derived from focus groups and semistructured interviews. SETTING: 4 participating clinical sites in Greece, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 32 patients with COPD with heart failure, diabetes, anxiety or depression, 27 informal carers and 23 HCPs from 4 European Union (EU) countries for focus groups and interviews. RESULTS: Most patients and HCPs described the WELCOME system as 'brilliant and creative' and felt it gave a sense of safety. Both users and HCPs agreed that the duration and frequency of vest wear should be individualised as should the mobile application functions. The parameters and frequency of monitoring should be personalised using a multidisciplinary approach. A 'traffic light' alert system was proposed by HCPs for abnormal results. Patients were happy to take actions in response. CONCLUSIONS: WELCOME stakeholders provided valuable views on the development of the system, which should take into account patient's individual comorbidities, circumstances and concerns. This will enable the development of the individualised system in each member state concerned.
Objectives To ascertain the stakeholders' views and devise recommendations for further stages of the Wearable Sensing and Smart Cloud Computing for Integrated Care to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients with Co-morbidities (WELCOME) system development. This system aims to create a wearable vest to monitor physiological signals for patients concerned incorporating an inhaler adherence monitoring, weight, temperature, blood pressure and glucose metres, and a mobile health application for communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Design A study of qualitative data derived from focus groups and semistructured interviews. Setting 4 participating clinical sites in Greece, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Participants Purposive sampling was used to recruit 32 patients with COPD with heart failure, diabetes, anxiety or depression, 27 informal carers and 23 HCPs from 4 European Union (EU) countries for focus groups and interviews. Results Most patients and HCPs described the WELCOME system as 'brilliant and creative' and felt it gave a sense of safety. Both users and HCPs agreed that the duration and frequency of vest wear should be individualised as should the mobile application functions. The parameters and frequency of monitoring should be personalised using a multidisciplinary approach. A 'traffic light' alert system was proposed by HCPs for abnormal results. Patients were happy to take actions in response. Conclusions WELCOME stakeholders provided valuable views on the development of the system, which should take into account patient's individual comorbidities, circumstances and concerns. This will enable the development of the individualised system in each member state concerned.
Objectives: To ascertain the stakeholders' views and devise recommendations for further stages of the Wearable Sensing and Smart Cloud Computing for Integrated Care to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Patients with Co-morbidities (WELCOME) system development. This system aims to create a wearable vest to monitor physiological signals for patients concerned incorporating an inhaler adherence monitoring, weight, temperature, blood pressure and glucose metres, and a mobile health application for communication with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Design: A study of qualitative data derived from focus groups and semistructured interviews. Setting: 4 participating clinical sites in Greece, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. Participants: Purposive sampling was used to recruit 32 patients with COPD with heart failure, diabetes, anxiety or depression, 27 informal carers and 23 HCPs from 4 European Union (EU) countries for focus groups and interviews. Results: Most patients and HCPs described the WELCOME system as 'brilliant and creative' and felt it gave a sense of safety. Both users and HCPs agreed that the duration and frequency of vest wear should be individualised as should the mobile application functions. The parameters and frequency of monitoring should be personalised using a multidisciplinary approach. A 'traffic light' alert system was proposed by HCPs for abnormal results. Patients were happy to take actions in response. Conclusions: WELCOME stakeholders provided valuable views on the development of the system, which should take into account patient's individual comorbidities, circumstances and concerns. This will enable the development of the individualised system in each member state concerned.
Background: COPD is among the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality in the European Union with an estimated annual economic burden of €25.1 billion. Various care pathways for COPD exist across Europe leading to different responses to similar problems. Determining these differences and the similarities may improve health and the functioning of health services. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare COPD patients' care pathway in five European Union countries including England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany and to explore health care professionals' (HCPs) perceptions about the current pathways. Methods: HCPs were interviewed in two stages using a qualitative, semistructured email interview and a face-to-face semistructured interview. Results: Lack of communication among different health care providers managing COPD and comorbidities was a common feature of the studied care pathways. General practitioners/family doctors are responsible for liaising between different teams/services, except in Greece where this is done through pulmonologists. Ireland and the UK are the only countries with services for patients at home to shorten unnecessary hospital stay. HCPs emphasized lack of communication, limited resources, and poor patient engagement as issues in the current pathways. Furthermore, no specified role exists for pharmacists and informal carers. Conclusion: Service and professional integration between care settings using a unified system targeting COPD and comorbidities is a priority. Better communication between health care providers, establishing a clear role for informal carers, and enhancing patients' engagement could optimize current care pathways resulting in a better integrated system. Keywords: COPD, comorbidities, care delivery pathway, comparative analysis
Reem Kayyali,1 Bassel Odeh,1 Inéz Frerichs,2 Nikki Davies,3 Eleni Perantoni,4 Shona D'arcy,5 Anouk W Vaes,6 John Chang,3 Martijn A Spruit,6 Brenda Deering,7 Nada Philip,1 Roshan Siva,3 Evangelos Kaimakamis,8 Ioanna Chouvarda,8 Barbara Pierscionek,1 Norbert Weiler,2 Emiel FM Wouters,6 Andreas Raptopoulos,9 Shereen Nabhani-Gebara1 1Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, Kingston University, Kingston-Upon-Thames, UK; 2Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Centre Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany; 3Chest Clinic and Research and Development, Croydon University Hospital, Croydon, UK; 4Pulmonary Clinic, AHEPA University Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece; 5Department of Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland; 6Research and Education, CIRO – Centre of Expertise for Chronic Organ Failure, Horn, the Netherlands; 7COPD Outreach, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland; 8Medical School, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, 9Research and Development, Exodus Information Technology SA, Athens, Greece Background: COPD is among the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality in the European Union with an estimated annual economic burden of €25.1 billion. Various care pathways for COPD exist across Europe leading to different responses to similar problems. Determining these differences and the similarities may improve health and the functioning of health services.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare COPD patients' care pathway in five European Union countries including England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany and to explore health care professionals' (HCPs) perceptions about the current pathways.Methods: HCPs were interviewed in two stages using a qualitative, semistructured email interview and a face-to-face semistructured interview.Results: Lack of communication among different health care providers managing COPD and comorbidities was a common feature of the studied care pathways. General practitioners/family doctors are responsible for liaising between different teams/services, except in Greece where this is done through pulmonologists. Ireland and the UK are the only countries with services for patients at home to shorten unnecessary hospital stay. HCPs emphasized lack of communication, limited resources, and poor patient engagement as issues in the current pathways. Furthermore, no specified role exists for pharmacists and informal carers.Conclusion: Service and professional integration between care settings using a unified system targeting COPD and comorbidities is a priority. Better communication between health care providers, establishing a clear role for informal carers, and enhancing patients' engagement could optimize current care pathways resulting in a better integrated system. Keywords: COPD, comorbidities, care delivery pathway, comparative analysis
In: Kayyali , R , Odeh , B , Frerichs , I , Davies , N , Perantoni , E , D'arcy , S , Vaes , A W , Chang , J , Spruit , M A , Deering , B , Philip , N , Siva , R , Kaimakamis , E , Chouvarda , I , Pierscionek , B , Weiler , N , Wouters , E F M , Raptopoulos , A & Nabhani-Gebara , S 2016 , ' COPD care delivery pathways in five European Union countries: mapping and health care professionals' perceptions ' , International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , vol. 11 , no. 1 , pp. 2831-2838 . https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S104136
COPD is among the leading causes of chronic morbidity and mortality in the European Union with an estimated annual economic burden of ?25.1 billion. Various care pathways for COPD exist across Europe leading to different responses to similar problems. Determining these differences and the similarities may improve health and the functioning of health services.The aim of this study was to compare COPD patients' care pathway in five European Union countries including England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece, and Germany and to explore health care professionals' (HCPs) perceptions about the current pathways.HCPs were interviewed in two stages using a qualitative, semistructured email interview and a face-to-face semistructured interview.Lack of communication among different health care providers managing COPD and comorbidities was a common feature of the studied care pathways. General practitioners/family doctors are responsible for liaising between different teams/services, except in Greece where this is done through pulmonologists. Ireland and the UK are the only countries with services for patients at home to shorten unnecessary hospital stay. HCPs emphasized lack of communication, limited resources, and poor patient engagement as issues in the current pathways. Furthermore, no specified role exists for pharmacists and informal carers.Service and professional integration between care settings using a unified system targeting COPD and comorbidities is a priority. Better communication between health care providers, establishing a clear role for informal carers, and enhancing patients' engagement could optimize current care pathways resulting in a better integrated system.
We described physical activity measures and hourly patterns in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after stratification for generic and COPD-specific characteristics and, based on multiple physical activity measures, we identified clusters of patients. In total, 1001 patients with COPD (65% men; age, 67 years; forced expiratory volume in the first second [FEV1], 49% predicted) were studied cross-sectionally. Demographics, anthropometrics, lung function and clinical data were assessed. Daily physical activity measures and hourly patterns were analysed based on data from a multisensor armband. Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis were applied to physical activity measures to identify clusters. Age, body mass index (BMI), dyspnoea grade and ADO index (including age, dyspnoea and airflow obstruction) were associated with physical activity measures and hourly patterns. Five clusters were identified based on three PCA components, which accounted for 60% of variance of the data. Importantly, couch potatoes (i.e. the most inactive cluster) were characterised by higher BMI, lower FEV1, worse dyspnoea and higher ADO index compared to other clusters (p < 0.05 for all). Daily physical activity measures and hourly patterns are heterogeneous in COPD. Clusters of patients were identified solely based on physical activity data. These findings may be useful to develop interventions aiming to promote physical activity in COPD. ; The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: RM is supported by the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Brazil (246704/2012-8). DB holds a Canada Research Chair, Canada. SSCK was funded by the Medical Research Council, UK. WD-CM was funded by the Medical Research Council, UK, and the National Institute for Health Research, UK. MSP was supported by an unrestricted research grant from Astra Zeneca. KCF is supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazil. SZ, DM, SD and JDL were supported by the following foundations: 'Gottfried und Julia Bangerter-Rhyner-Stiftung', 'Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft Basel' and 'Forschungsfonds der Universitat Basel', Switzerland. DS was supported by GSK and by the Medical Research Council, UK (G0701628). FP is supported by CNPq, Brazil. PRE was supported by an NHMRC Research Fellowship, Australia (1042341). MIP's contribution to this manuscript was funded by the NIHR Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at the Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust and Imperial College, UK. EFMW was supported by Point-One funding from AgentschapNL, Dutch Ministry of Economic affairs, the Netherlands. AWV was supported by 'Stichting de Weijerhorst' and Point-One funding from AgentschapNL, Dutch Ministry of Economic affairs, Netherlands. MAS was supported by Point-One funding from AgentschapNL, Dutch Ministry of Economic affairs, the Netherlands. Part of the data was sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline (data from the ECLIPSE cohort sub-study). Data from Ireland was supported by Beaumont Foundation, Ireland and SwordMedical Ltd, Ireland. The Australian sites were supported by a National Health and Medical Research Grant, Australia (grant no.: 570814). Part of the data collection in the UK (data from Leicester) was supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care and took place at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, UK, and by the NIHR Leicester Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit, UK. Data from the PAC-COPD study was funded by grants from the following Spanish institutions: Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria, Ministry of Health (FIS PI020541); Agencia d'Avaluacio de Tecnologia i Recerca Mediques, Catalonia Government (AATRM 035/20/02); Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR 2002/137); Catalan Foundation of Pneumology (FUCAP 2003 Beca Maria Rava); Red RESPIRA (RTIC C03/11); Red RCESP (RTIC C03/09), Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (PI052486); Fondo de Investigacion Sanitaria (PI052302); Fundacio La Marato de TV3 (No. 041110); and DURSI (2005SGR00392); and by unrestricted educational grants from Novartis Farmaceutica and AstraZeneca Farmaceutica.