Short-term effects of tiotropium on the pulmonary function and quality of life (QOL) in patients at risk and with mild chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

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Purpose: Although the short-term effects of tiotropium for patients with Stage II-IV COPD have been established, the effects on patients in earlier stages are not known. We studied the short-term effects of tiotropium on pulmonary function, quality of life (QOL), and clinical symptoms in patients at risk for and with mild COPD.Subjects and methods: The subjects enrolled the study consist of 85 patients who visited the clinics due to respiratory symptoms, were more than 40 years old, and had a smoking history of more than 10 pack-years were enrolled. They were divided into an At risk-Stage I COPD group and a Stages II-IV COPD group. After the administration of tiotropium for 12 weeks, the changes in the pulmonary function test, QOL, and subjective symptoms were compared before and after the therapy.Results: Tiotropium increased the FEV1, FVC, and IC and improved the SGRQ scores in the patients in the Stage II-IV COPD group, while it did not cause a significant difference in the At risk-Stage I groups. Some patients in the At risk-Stage I group who experienced an improvement in their subjective symptoms.Conclusions: We could not show that the patients in the At risk-Stage I group benefited from tiotropium. However, some patients in the At risk-Stage I groups showed improvements in their symptoms. Tiotropium may be effective to relieve symptoms in some patients even when they are in the At risk-Stage I groups.