Recruiting Patients After Hospital Discharge for Acute Exacerbation of COPD: Challenges and Lessons Learned

Background: Hospitalizations for acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) are associated with increased mortality and decreased quality of life. Replicate hospital discharge studies were initiated to examine efficacy and safety of once-daily tiotropium HandiHaler^® versus placebo, in addition to usual care, in patients discharged from the hospital after an AECOPD. Methods: Both studies were randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, parallel-group, multicenter, with inclusion/exclusion criteria providing a diverse COPD patient cohort hospitalized for ≤14 days with AECOPD. Patients received tiotropium or placebo, initiated within 10 days post-discharge. Target recruitment was 604 patients/study and planned duration was event-driven, ending after 631 clinical outcome events across both studies. Inability to reach targeted site numbers and patient recruitment/retention difficulties led to early study termination. Recruitment/retention challenges and protocol amendment impacts were assessed qualitatively to understand the major issues. Results: Over 18 months, 219 patients were enrolled; 158 were randomized and 61 failed screening. Premature treatment discontinuation occurred in 49(31%) patients, of whom 20(41%) completed health status follow-up. All-cause, 30-day hospital readmission was low (8[5%] patients). A total of 154(98%) patients had a concomitant diagnosis and most took pulmonary medication pre-randomization (143[91%]) and during study treatment (144[92%]). Inclusion/exclusion criteria changes failed to improve recruitment. Recruitment/retention barriers were identified, relating to patient and clinician factors, health care infrastructure, and clinical practices. Conclusions: Although AECOPD hospitalization is clinically important and incurs high costs, significant challenges exist in studying this population in clinical trials after hospitalization. Studies are needed to evaluate effective management of AECOPD patients at high risk of adverse clinical outcomes.