POPE study: rationale and methodology of a study to phenotype patients with COPD in Central and Eastern Europe

Zuzana Zbozinkova,1 Adam Barczyk,2 Ruzena Tkacova,3 Arschang Valipour,4 Neven Tudoric,5 Kirill Zykov,6 Attila Somfay,7 Marc Miravitlles,8 Vladimir Koblizek91Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses, Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic; 2Department of Pneumology, School of Medicine in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland; 3Department of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Kosice, Slovakia; 4Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institute for COPD and Respiratory Epidemiology, Otto-Wagner-Spital, Wien, Austria; 5School of Medicine Zagreb, University Hospital Dubrava, Zagreb, Croatia; 6Laboratory of Pulmonology, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry named after A.I. Evdokimov, Moscow, Russia; 7Department of Pulmonology, University of Szeged, Deszk, Hungary; 8Pneumology Department, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, CIBER de Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES), Barcelona, Spain; 9Department of Pneumology, Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Kralove, University Hospital Hradec Kralove, Charles University in Prague, Hradec Kralove, Czech RepublicIntroduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) constitutes a major health challenge in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. However, clinical phenotypes, symptom load, and treatment habits of patients with COPD in CEE countries remain largely unknown. This paper provides a rationale for phenotyping COPD and describes the methodology of a large study in CEE.Methods/design: The POPE study is an international, multicenter, observational cross-sectional survey of patients with COPD in CEE. Participation in the study is offered to all consecutive outpatients with stable COPD in 84 centers across the CEE region if they fulfill the following criteria: age >40 years, smoking history ≥10 pack-years, a confirmed diagnosis of COPD with postbronchodilator FEV1/FVC ,0.7, and absenc