What the trial was testing
The ED GOAL enrolled 141 patients with copd. The study was sponsored by Brigham and Women's Hospital and tracked outcomes across the full group of patients who matched the trial's eligibility profile.
Researchers followed patients through treatment and into recovery, tracking the outcomes that mattered most for the disease being studied.
What the results showed
Doctors documented end-of-life wishes for 31% of patients who had nurse-led conversations versus 13% who didn't.
JAMA network open · 2025 · NCT05209880
These findings — that doctors were more than twice as likely to record patients' end-of-life preferences after nurse-led conversations — were published in the JAMA network open and represent the headline result of the study.
Researchers tracked outcomes across 141 patients enrolled in the trial. The result was consistent enough across the group that the team felt confident reporting it.
What this means for patients
For patients with copd, this result changes the calculus on what to ask their care team about. Whether it changes day-to-day care depends on factors like disease subtype, prior treatments, and where the patient is in their care journey.
What you can do now
This study tested a conversation program, not a treatment. If you have a serious illness like advanced cancer or COPD, the emergency department can be a good place to start conversations about your care wishes. Ask your doctor or nurse if they offer similar programs to help you plan ahead.
Eligibility for the treatments mentioned above depends on specific test results and clinical history. Bring this summary, the trial name, and your most recent labs or pathology report to your next visit.
Open copd trials
Validation of the French Version of the QASCI in Caregivers of Patients With COPD
This study aims to validate the French version of the QASCI questionnaire, initially written and validated in Portuguese language by Hipolito et al., to assess caregiving burden in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The realization of this validation is significant on several levels. First, since COPD is a systemic condition, it affects not only the lungs but also many other organs and systems in the body. It leads to various complications that go beyond respiratory symptoms, creating major challenges not only physically but also in terms of participation and involvement for patients and their caregivers. The lack of validated tools in French to specifically assess the quality of life of caregivers in this context represents a gap that this study seeks to fill. This study is also justified by the fact that, although the QASCI has been validated in other languages and contexts, it is essential to linguistically and culturally adapt this tool for the French-speaking population. Validation in French is crucial to ensure the fidelity of the results obtained and the validity of the conclusions drawn from this instrument for caregivers of patients with COPD in France. In summary, this study addresses a specific need by contributing to the prevention of pathologies among caregivers. It enhances early detection and support for caregivers of patients with COPD while paving the way for future research on this often-overlooked population.
Effect of Combined Endurance Training on ADL and Walking in COPD Patients
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a chronic disease with related exercise intolerance and marked disability due to symptoms such as dyspnea and fatigue. Effort intolerance and exercise-induced symptoms cause marked impairment in completing activities of daily living (ADL). Pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), which has exercise as a major component, is considered a key treatment in the management of COPD since PR is effective in improving exercise tolerance, exercise-induced dyspnea and fatigue, and health-related quality of life. Rehabilitation is also effective in improving the time required to perform ADLs, reducing symptoms and disability. Studies show that rehabilitation protocols with upper limb exercises added to lower limb training are able to give additional benefits in terms of effort tolerance (endurance time at the arm ergometer and oxygen consumption) and reduction of dyspnea at iso-load. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate whether the combined "arm and leg" training modality, compared to a gold standard protocol -involving only the lower limbs training- is more effective in improving ADL performance in terms of reduction of exercise time for a specific test (GLITTRE test).