FRESH AIR:An implementation research project funded through Horizon 2020 exploring the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chronic respiratory diseases in low-resource settings

This protocol describes FRESH AIR, an implementation science project exploring how to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of chronic lung diseases in contexts with limited healthcare resources. It consists of inter-related studies that take place in four countries that are part of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group's (IPCRG) global network: Uganda, the Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam and Greece. The project has been funded by the European Commission Horizon 2020 research programme and runs from October 2015 until September 2018

Effectiveness of Telemonitoring for Respiratory and Systemic Symptoms of Asthma and COPD:A Narrative Review

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) are highly prevalent chronic lung diseases that require ongoing self-management, which itself is often suboptimal. Therefore, telemonitoring has been used to help patients measure their symptoms, share data with healthcare providers and receive education and feedback to improve disease management. In this study, we conducted a narrative review of recent evidence on the effectiveness of telemonitoring for asthma and COPD in adults. Of the thirteen identified studies, eleven focused on COPD and two focused on asthma. All studies were reviewed, and effects were compared between intervention and care as usual groups. Of the study interventions, seven showed a positive outcome on at least one outcome measure, and six had no significant results on any of the outcome measures. All of the interventions with a positive outcome included an educational component, while only one of the six interventions without positive outcomes included an educational component. We conclude that telemonitoring interventions for asthma and COPD seem more effective if they included an educational component regarding different aspects of self-management

Realising the potential of mHealth to improve asthma and allergy care : how to shape the future

Non peer reviewe

岡山とギザにおける太陽エネルギーの所要量と推定

Egypt as a developed country still has no electricity in many villages but at the same time has enough natural energy such as solar energy. Solar radiation data is not always available in many areas of the world and they have to be estimated using some sort of empirical model. The results of this prediction are compared for the measured data of two different countries: Japan (Okayama City) and Egypt (Giza City). The comparison shows an acceptable level of prediction between both of them. On a June day, actual accumulated insolation through one day was 18.88 MJ/m2 in Okayama and 22.79 MJ/m2 in Giza. On the other hand on a January day, actual accumulated insolation through one day was 4.93 MJ/m2 in Okayama and 5.49 MJ/m2 in Giza. We can see also that in January the worst solar month, solar water heaters still provide 35.25% of the energy for Okayama and 40.37% for Giza, That was because in Okayama the number of sunny days was only 6 but there were 19 in Giza.太陽エネルギーを農業に有効利用する目的で、岡山とエジプト・ギザを観測地点として、獲得できるエネルギーの量を観測し、2地点での比較を行った。岡山とギザでは緯度が、34°39'と30°02'と異なるために集めることができる太陽エネルギーの量に差が生じ、その量はギザの方が多くなり農業への有効利用の可能性が大である

Prevalence and Economic Burden of Respiratory Diseases in Central Asia and Russia:A Systematic Review

Prevalence data of respiratory diseases (RDs) in Central Asia (CA) and Russia are contrasting. To inform future research needs and assist government and clinical policy on RDs, an up-to-date overview is required. We aimed to review the prevalence and economic burden of RDs in CA and Russia. PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched for studies that reported prevalence and/or economic burden of RDs (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung diseases (ILD), lung cancer, pulmonary hypertension, and tuberculosis (TB)) in CA (Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan) and Russia. A total of 25 articles (RD prevalence: 18; economics: 7) were included. The majority (n = 12), mostly from Russia, reported on TB. TB prevalence declined over the last 20 years, to less than 100 per 100,000 across Russia and CA, yet in those, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) was alarming high (newly treated: 19-26%, previously treated: 60-70%). COPD, asthma (2-15%) and ILD (0.006%) prevalence was only reported for Russia and Kazakhstan. No studies on cystic fibrosis, lung cancer and pulmonary hypertension were found. TB costs varied between US$400 (Tajikistan) and US$900 (Russia) for drug-susceptible TB to >= US$10,000 for MDR-TB (Russia). Non-TB data were scarce and inconsistent. Especially in CA, more research into the prevalence and burden of RDs is needed.Public Health and primary carePrevention, Population and Disease management (PrePoD

Are pharmacological randomised controlled clinical trials relevant to real-life asthma populations? A protocol for an UNLOCK study from the IPCRG

[Excerpt] Introduction: Asthma has a high prevalence worldwide with a high incidence in primary care settings in many countries.1 It is by definition a variable disease with a broad spectrum of clinical phenotypes, in which management and treatment can be difficult.2–8 The aim of asthma treatment is optimal control of the disease, which according to Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines implies both symptom control and prevention of exacerbations.1 Despite several treatment options, studies show that about half of the patients have poor asthma control.2,3 When asthma is not controlled, it decreases the quality of life, increases the risk of exacerbations and premature death and is a high cost for the society.2,3 [...]The IPCRG provided funding for this research project as an UNLOCK Group study for which the funding was obtained through an unrestricted grant by Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland. Novartis has no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript. This study will include data from the Optimum Patient Care Research Database and is undertaken in collaboration with Optimum Patient Care and the Respiratory Effectiveness Group.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of a workplace-based group training programme combined with financial incentives on smoking cessation:a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Prevention, Population and Disease management (PrePoD)Public Health and primary car

Clinical highlights from the 2011 ERS Congress in Amsterdam

This article reports on selected papers pertinent to the most important clinical problems in the field of respiratory medicine. Expert authors from the Clinical Assembly of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) have selected updated reports related to presentations given at the 2011 ERS Annual Congress, which was held in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and attended by more than 20,000 participants. The hot topics and selected abstracts from the scientific groups of the Clinical Assembly are discussed here in the context of recent literature

Morning and night symptoms in primary care COPD patients:a cross-sectional and longitudinal study. An UNLOCK study from the IPCRG

COPD symptoms show a diurnal variability. However, morning and night variability has generally not been taken into consideration in disease management plans. The aims of this study were to cross-sectionally assess morning and night symptom prevalence and correlation with health status and disease severity in COPD, and to determine to what extent they could predict longitudinal outcomes, exacerbations and health status. A further aim is to explore whether the CCQ is able to depict this morning/night symptomatology. We included 2,269 primary care COPD patients (58% male, 49% current smokers, with a mean age of 65±11 years) from a Dutch Asthma/COPD service. Spirometry, patient history, the Clinical COPD Questionnaire(CCQ) and the Asthma Control Questionnaire(ACQ) were assessed; we used the latter to evaluate morning (question 2) and night symptoms (question 1). A total of 1159 (51.9%) patients reported morning symptoms (ACQ question 2>0) and 879 (39.4%) had night complaints (ACQ question 1>0). Patients with morning/night symptoms were mostly smokers and had on average poorer lung function, higher CCQ scores and used more rescue inhalers (P<0.0001). Patients using long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) had less night symptoms, showing a possible favourable effect. Only a small proportion of stable or slightly unstable patients (CCQ total scores <2) had severe morning symptoms (ACQ 2⩾4: n=19, 1.1%) or severe night symptoms (ACQ 1⩾4: n=11, 0.7%). Night symptoms seemed to predict future exacerbations; however, baseline exacerbations were the strongest predictors (n=346, OR:4.13, CI: 2.45-6.95, P<0.000). Morning symptoms increased the odds of poor health status at follow-up (n=346, OR:12.22, CI:4.76-31.39, P<0.000). Morning and night symptoms in COPD patients are common, and they are associated with poor health status and predicted future exacerbations. Our study showed that patients with morning/night symptoms have higher scores in CCQ, and therefore we do not really miss patients with high morning/night symptomatology when we only measure CCQ. Severe morning symptoms predicted worsening of COPD health status