What is it about?
One of the most troublesome symptoms of COPD is breathlessness during physical activity. In this study we showed that patients treated with a combination of the two bronchodilators tiotropium and olodaterol had less breathlessness at the end of a 3-minute shuttle walking test than patients treated with tiotropium alone.
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Why is it important?
Activity-related breathlessness is a burdensome symptom for patients with COPD, as it prevents them carrying out normal daily activities. In this study we show that the benefits of combined tiotropium/olodaterol over tiotropium in terms of lung function and hyperinflation lead to a reduction in activity-related breathlessness.
Perspectives
This is the first study to use the 3-minute constant speed shuttle test (CSST) to compare a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA)/long-acting β-agonist (LABA) combination with a LAMA alone. Importantly, the 3-min CSST was specifically designed to measure changes in activity-related breathlessness, and in this trial we were able to detect differences between the two active treatments. The findings show that dual bronchodilation offers a better chance of improving activity-related breathlessness than a single bronchodilator, and this may allow patients to remain active for longer.
François Maltais
Universite Laval
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Dual bronchodilation with tiotropium/olodaterol further reduces activity-related breathlessness versus tiotropium alone in COPD, European Respiratory Journal, January 2019, European Respiratory Society (ERS),
DOI: 10.1183/13993003.02049-2018.
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