Process

As of October 2010, thirteen European countries took part in the seven months data-collection (carried out using a web-based survey tool) phase of the first audit of COPD care across Europe.

The COPD Audit, a prospective observational study, involved collecting data (60-day period with 90-day follow-up) about the way hospitals provide care for COPD patients as well as clinical data on the process of care and outcomes for COPD patients admitted to a hospital with an exacerbation.

The final deadline for data collection was 22 June 2011. Since then the Data Analysis Team has started the database cleaning process. By 25 September the preliminary analysis was finished which enabled us to launch the preliminary resuls during several sessions at the ERS Annual Congress in Amsterdam.