We investigated the effect of daily real-time teleconsultations for one week between hospital-based nurses specialised in respiratory diseases and patients with severe COPD discharged after acute exacerbation. Patients admitted with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) at two hospitals were recruited at hospital discharge. They were randomly assigned to intervention or control. The telemedicine equipment consisted of a briefcase with built-in computer including a web camera, microphone and measurement equipment. The primary outcome was the mean number of total hospital readmissions within 26 weeks of discharge. A total of 266 patients (mean age 72 years) were allocated to either intervention (n = 132) or control (n = 134). There was no significant difference in the unconditional total mean number of hospital readmissions after 26 weeks: mean 1.4 (SD 2.1) in the intervention group and 1.6 (SD 2.4) in the control group. In a secondary analysis, there was no significant difference between the two groups in mortality, time to readmission, mean number of total hospital readmissions, mean number of readmissions with AECOPD, mean number of total hospital readmission days or mean number of readmission days with AECOPD calculated at 4, 8, 12 and 26 weeks. Thus the addition of one week of teleconsultations between hospital-based nurses and patients with severe COPD discharged after hospitalisation did not significantly reduce readmissions or affect mortality.

Introduction: Exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (ECOPD) are the most common cause for admissions and readmissions to medical wards worldwide. Objectives: To investigate the effect on early readmissions of telemedicine video consultations (TVCs) between respiratory nurses placed at the hospital and COPD patients in their homes after a discharge from the hospital, which was caused by ECOPD. Methods: This study was an interventional study in which all ECOPD were consecutively allocated into two groups (TVC or control) depending on their home municipality. The patient received daily TVC at home with a nurse based at the hospital for approximately one week. Thereafter, the patient received at least one follow-up call and they could call the nurse for the rest of the study period of 28 days. The telemedicine equipment was composed of a computer with a web camera, a microphone and measurement equipment. Results: Within each of the two groups, TVC (n = 50) and control (n = 50), 12% and 22%, respectively, were readmitted [differences between rates -10% (95% confidence interval -25;5)] because of ECOPD. The multivariate Cox regression model showed the TVC assignment as a significant protective factor for early readmission [hazard ratio (HR) 0.25 (0.09-0.69)]. High age )] and male gender )] were associated with high hazard. Patient satisfaction was high. Conclusions: In a hospitalised population with ECOPD, a nurse TVC assignment is protective against early readmission and reduces the days of readmission.Please cite this paper as: Sorknaes AD, Madsen H, Hallas J, Jest P and Hansen-Nord M. Nurse tele-consultations with discharged COPD patients reduce early readmissions -an interventional study. Clin Respir J 2011; 5: 26-34.

The use of complementary/alternative medicine (CAM) is increasing. The aim was to characterise the use of CAM among patients in a paediatric department. All patients (aged 0-18 years), out-patients or hospitalised, in contact with the Department of Paediatrics, Odense University Hospital during a 2 week period in the autumn of 2001 were asked to participate. In total, 622 (92%) patients participated. The data were collected in an interviewer administered questionnaire during a short structured interview with the patient and parents. CAM was divided into herbal medicine (herbal drugs or dietary supplements) (HM), alternative therapy (AT) (i.e. acupuncture) or chiropractic (CHI). Of all patients, 53% had tried CAM at least once and 23% had tried CAM within the last month (15% HM, 7% AT and 2% CHI). There was no correlation between use of CAM and gender, age or if the patient was out-patient or hospitalised. The users were pre-school children. HM (Bio-Strath and Echinacea) was especially used to strengthen the immune system. Among AT, reflexological treatment was the most popular treatment. The most frequent users of CAM were patients with asthma, eczema or allergy plus patients suffering from gastrointestinal diseases or hospitalised for observation. More than 50% of the users experienced positive effects and 6% had side-effects from AM. Of the CAM users, 11% or 2% of the total paediatric population used CAM instead of conventional medicines. Conclusion: Of the paediatric patients, 53% had tried complementary/alternative medicine, which was used as a supplement to conventional medicine although we did not know how long it was used. Paediatric patients should be interviewed about their use of complementary/alternative medicine with regard to side-effects, interactions or lack of compliance with conventional medicine.

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Background: New, complex, and expensive therapies targeting Interleukin-5 (IL-5) to treat severe eosinophilic asthma are emerging.Objective: To assess efficacy, adverse events, and inter-drug comparison of mepolizumab and reslizumab for treating severe eosinophilic asthma.Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis on randomized, placebo-controlled, clinical trials elucidating two critical (exacerbation rate and oral corticosteroid (OCS) use) and six important clinical outcomes on the efficacy and safety of mepolizumab and reslizumab.Results: Five studies (N = 2197) contributed with data for exacerbation rate, showing a reduction of 53% (95% CI 46; 59) in favour of anti-IL-5, corresponding to –0.94 annual exacerbations (95% CI –1.08;–0.82), thus exceeding the predefined minimal clinical important difference (MCID) of 25% reduction of the estimated ≥2 annual exacerbations. Quality of evidence was considered moderate, with low heterogeneity in study findings (I2 = 0%). One study (N = 135) contributed with data on percentage of patients experiencing ≥50% reduction inoral corticosteroid treatment, showing an effect of 20% (95% CI 2.3;47) in favour of anti-IL-5 treatment (mepolizumab), thus exceeding the predefined MCID of 10%. Quality of evidence was considered low.Compared to placebo, anti-IL-5 showed significant improvements in lung function, asthma control, and asthma-related quality of life, but below the MCIDs. No differences were observed for serious adverse events and number of patients, who dropped out. No studies evaluating sickleave or head-to-head comparisons were identified. By indirect comparison, we found no significant difference between mepolizumab and reslizumab in any ofthe predefined clinical outcomes. OCS treatment reduction could not be compared due to lack of reslizumab studies investigating this outcome.Conclusions: Mepolizumab and reslizumab provide significant and clinically relevant improvements in exacerbation rate and OCS reduction. Indirect, inter-study comparisons revealed no differences between the anti-IL-5 drugs in efficacy or safety measures.