Plain Language Summaries for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation Articles
This article was written by Cathy Gray Carlomagno, BS, Managing Editor Journal of the COPD Foundation
Several of the articles recently published in Volume 8, Issue 2 of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases: Journal of the COPD Foundation have corresponding plain language summaries. 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 articles (and their short summaries) cover a variety of COPD-related research topics including screening, disease progression, COVID-19, sleep quality, and more.
Plain language summaries are available for each of the following articles:
Screening for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency
In the article, "Improving Screening for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin with Direct Testing in the Pulmonary Function Test Laboratory" researchers offered patients whose pulmonary function tests indicated possible COPD, the opportunity to be tested for the genetic form of COPD—alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Several different testing options were offered, and some were more successful than others. For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
COPD Progression
Researchers look at why COPD progresses to severe disease in some smokers but remains stable for years in others, in "Progression of Emphysema and Small Airways Disease in Cigarette Smokers." For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
COVID-19 Surveys to COPD Individuals
The COPD Foundation has surveyed individuals with COPD multiple times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and some of the results from those surveys are shared in "New Adopters of Telemedicine During the Coronavirus-19 Pandemic in Respondents to an Online Community Survey: The Case for Access to Remote Management Tools for Individuals with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease." For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
COPD Therapy and Sleep Quality
In "Effect of Triple Therapy with Budesonide-Formoterol-Tiotropium Versus Placebo-Tiotropium on Sleep Quality in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease," researchers explain their study to determine whether a triple therapy (budesonide-formoterol-tiotropium) or a placebo-tiotropium combination therapy would affect the sleep quality of individuals with COPD. For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
Management of COPD in Physician Practices
Are practicing physician following COPD diagnosis and management guidelines? Specifically, are they reviewing symptoms with patients and discussing the risk of flare-ups? These questions are considered in "Does Evaluation and Management of COPD Follow Therapeutic Strategy Recommendations?" For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease
Researchers looked at infections that occur because of nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) and tried to better understand how much, and in what way, a patient may be affected by NTM lung infection or disease in "Symptom Burden and Medication Use Among Patients with Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Lung Disease." For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.
COVID-19 and COPD
Researchers at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania aimed to understand if patients with COPD and/or emphysema had worse COVID-19 outcomes than those without these conditions in "Impact of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Emphysema on Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 Pneumonia." For the complete plain language summary click here and scroll down.