Table 1

Characteristics of included studies

Reference	Design	N	Mean age I/C*	Sex (% male) I/C*	FEV₁ (%pred) I/C*	Recruitment	Follow up (months)	Outcomes
RCT=randomised controlled trial; CCT=controlled clinical trial.
*I=intervention group; C=control group.
†These papers were derived from the same study.
‡The third arm of this study was disregarded because it focused on pulmonary rehabilitation.
§These papers were derived from the same study.
Gallefoss (1999a)†⁸	RCT	62	57/58	48/52	59/56	Outpatients	12	Health status
Gallefoss (1999b)†¹⁵	RCT	62	57/58	48/52	59/56	Outpatients	12	Compliance, courses of steroids, use of rescue medication
Gallefoss (2000)†¹⁶	RCT	62	57/58	48/52	59/56	Outpatients	12	Health status, hospital admissions, days lost from work, GP consultation, lung function
Blake (1990)¹⁷	RCT	94	63/64	80/82	?	Outpatients	12	Health status, hospital days, bed disability days, restricted activity days, physician visits
Cockcroft (1987)¹⁸	RCT	75	69/71	69/67	?	Outpatients	10	Health status, hospital admissions, deaths knowledge, symptoms
Emery (1998)‡¹⁹	RCT	50	67/67	67/67	43/39	Outpatients + GP patients, advertisements + word of mouth	2	Health status, knowledge, lung function
Gourley (1998)§²⁰	RCT	98	69/69	100/100	?	Outpatients	6	Health status, patient satisfaction, knowledge
Solomon (1998)§²¹	RCT	128	69/69	100/100	50/50	Outpatients	6	Symptoms, hospital admissions, ER visits, other healthcare facilities
Howland (1986)²²	CCT	659	59/60	54/51	?	Community patients	12	Health status, lung function
Littlejohns (1991)²³	RCT	152	63/63	67/63	45/50	Outpatients	12	Health status, number of exacerbations, courses of steroids/antibiotics, hospital admissions, lung function, exercise capacity
Watson (1997)²⁴	RCT	69	68/67	62/67	37/36	GP patients	6	Health status, symptoms, GP visits, courses of steroids/antibiotics, lung function