Decline of COPD exacerbations in clinical trials over two decades - a systematic review and meta-regression.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An important goal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treatment is to reduce the frequency of exacerbations. Some observations suggest a decline in exacerbation rates in clinical trials over time. A more systematic understanding would help to improve the design and interpretation of COPD trials.

Methods

We performed a systematic review and meta-regression of the placebo groups in published randomized controlled trials reporting exacerbations as an outcome. A Bayesian negative binomial model was developed to accommodate results that are reported in different formats; results are reported with credible intervals (CI) and posterior tail probabilities (p_B).

Results

Of 1114 studies identified by our search, 55 were ultimately included. Exa

SUBMITTER: Andreas S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6697937 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature