“…These interventions, including nurse-administered home care for AECOPD,8–10 disease-specific self-management plans,11 12 implementation of the chronic care model,13 and home visits by respiratory health workers,14–16 have had variable degrees of success. A recent meta-analysis of 26 trials with different programme designs in various healthcare settings, and with a follow-up period of between 3 and 24 months, has suggested that integrated disease-management programmes improved disease-specific QOL and exercise capacity, in addition to reducing hospital admissions and hospital days per person 17. To the best of our knowledge, there has been no randomised controlled trial (RCT) that specifically evaluates the effects of a comprehensive programme with multidisciplinary input on patients who have just been discharged from hospital after treatment of AECOPD, although there are data suggesting that a post-AECOPD rehabilitation programme and self-management can help to decrease exacerbations and improve the QOL of such patients 18 19.…”