New Plain Language Summary Feature in Chronic Obstructive Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation

This article was written by Cathy Gray Carlomagno, BS, Managing Editor Journal of the COPD Foundation

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation is happy to announce a new feature: "plain language summaries" of the journal’s recently published articles.

The summaries are short and written in simple, non-technical language with the goal of providing a helpful overview of the published "original research" or "review" article. These summaries strive to answer the questions:

• What occurred during the research/study/trial?
• What was learned at the end of the research/study/trial?
• Why was the research needed?
• How will information learned from the research be used in the future?

Several of the articles recently published in Volume 8, Issue 1 of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation have corresponding plain language summaries. These articles (and their short summaries) cover a variety of COPD-related research topics including patient registries, large clinical trial results, genetics, exacerbations, exercise, patient treatment preferences and more.

Plain language summaries are available for each of the following articles:

Exercise and Alpha-1
In the article, "Home-Based Multicomponent Intervention Increases Exercise Activity and Improves Body Mass Index: Results of a 5-Year Randomized Trial Among Individuals with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency-Associated Lung Disease," researchers present the results of a 5-year study aimed at providing exercise and nutrition-oriented activities for 500 individuals with the genetic form of COPD—alpha-l antitrypsin deficiency. Read the complete plain language summary here.

Patient Treatment Preferences
Researchers share the information gathered from patient interviews and focus groups, conducted in three countries, regarding patient preferences in the article, "Treatment Preferences of Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Results from Qualitative Interviews and Focus Groups in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany." For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

Alpha-1 Genetic Mutations
Researchers from Canada and Spain discuss several genetic mutations causing alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (the genetic form of COPD), in "The Clinical Utility of Determining the Allelic Background of Mutations Causing Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency: The Case with the Null Variant Q0Mattawa/Q0Ourém." For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

Diagnosing COPD in Primary Care
In the "Protocol Summary of the CAPTURE Validation in Primary Care Study" article, a team of 17 researchers explain a study that is enrolling thousands of patients from primary care practices across the country to test a 5-question COPD screening questionnaire. For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

Trial Results
In the article, "InforMing the PAthway of COPD Treatment (IMPACT Trial) Single-Inhaler Triple Therapy (Fluticasone Furoate/ Umeclidinium/ Vilanterol) Versus Fluticasone Furoate/Vilanterol and Umeclidinium /Vilanterol in Patients With COPD: Analysis of the Western Europe and North America Regions", an analysis is provided of some of the results of the large COPD IMPACT trial. For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

Black Carbon in Airway Cells
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Tri-Service General Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan looked at specific airway cells in former smokers and made a link between black carbon, the protein CD80 and COPD flare-ups or exacerbations—in "Black Carbon Content in Airway Macrophages is Associated with Reduced CD80 Expression and Increased Exacerbations in Former Smokers With COPD." For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

A COPD Patient Registry
In the article, "Development of the Advancing the Patient Experience in COPD Registry: A Modified Delphi Study," researchers from the Netherlands, Singapore, Canada, the United Kingdom and across the United States explain how the first COPD registry in the United States to be based in primary care was created, in "Development of the Advancing the Patient Experience in COPD Registry: A Modified Delphi Study." For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

Exacerbations in Alpha-1
In a review of all previously published articles and available information, authors provide an overview of disease flare-ups or “exacerbations” in alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency and how these differ from exacerbations in non-alpha-1 COPD, in "Exacerbations of Lung Disease in Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency." For the complete plain language summary, click here and scroll down.

The complete plain language summaries of each of the articles mentioned above can be found here.