Sample demographic and clinical characteristics by phase
| Phase I: content validity | Phase II: score reliability & validity | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Stage 1: secondary analysis of EXACT qualitative data* (n=63) | Stage 2: new focus groups† (n=21) | (n=188) |
| Age mean (SD) | 65.2 (10.4) | 67.8 (8.7) | 65.8 (9.7) |
| Male (%) | 28 (44.4) | 14 (66.7) | 91 (48.4) |
| Smoking status, n (%) | |||
| Current | 20 (31.7) | 9 (42.9) | 58 (30.9) |
| Former | 42 (66.7) | 12 (57.1) | 130 (69.1) |
| Duration of disease in years, mean (SD) | 7.9 (6.2) | 8.9 (7.3) | 7.5 (7.0) |
| FEV1 | 1.16 (0.4) | 1.3 (0.5) | 1.3 (0.6) |
| FEV1% predicted, mean (SD) | 45.8 (16.1) | 47.9 (16.6) | 51.2 (19.6) |
| mMRC dyspnoea score, n (%) | |||
| 0 None | 1 (1.6) | 5 (23.8) | 15 (8.0) |
| 1 Hurrying uphill | 8 (12.7) | 8 (38.1) | 62 (33.0) |
| 2 Walks slower on level | 18 (28.6) | 3 (14.3) | 56 (29.8) |
| 3 Stops after walking | 27 (42.9) | 4 (19.0) | 49 (26.1) |
| 4 Too breathless | 6 (9.5) | 1 (4.8) | 6 (3.2) |
| Missing | 3 (4.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| SGRQ total‡ | 56.3 (18.6) | 48.0 (16.0) | 50.8 (19.9) |
| Symptoms | 64.3 (23.3) | 62.0 (23.1) | 60.8 (21.2) |
| Activity | 72.6 (19.7) | 61.0 (21.0) | 69.7 (23.5) |
| Impact | 45.7 (21.3) | 35.8 (16.4) | 36.8 (22.3) |
| Patient-reported comorbidity, n (%)§ | |||
| Hypertension | 21 (33.3) | 10 (47.6) | 73 (38.8) |
| Diabetes | 12 (19.0) | 4 (19.0) | 24 (12.8) |
| Heart disease | 10 (15.9) | 1 (4.8) | 35 (18.6) |
| Chronic sinusitis | 5 (7.9) | 2 (9.5) | 13 (6.9) |
| Other | 16 (25.4) | 4 (19.0) | 12 (6.4) |
*Three focus groups, twenty-five 1 : 1 interviews, two 2 : 1 interviews among stable COPD patients.
†Four new focus groups.
‡Phase I, Stage 1: n=54–61; Phase II: n=181–188.
§Not mutually exclusive.
EXACT, Exacerbations of Chronic Pulmonary Disease Tool; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 s; GOLD, Global Initiative on Obstructive Lung Disease; mMRC, modified Medical Research Council; SGRQ, St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire.