title: The 'real-life' COPD patient in Germany: The DACCORD study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  DACCORD is an ongoing, longitudinal, non-interventional study within the German COPD National Prospective Registry. This manuscript describes the baseline characteristics of the first 5924 participants, recruited between November 2012 and November 2013.
  
  
  METHODS
  The main inclusion criteria are a physician diagnosis of COPD, age ≥40 years, and initiating or changing COPD maintenance medication. Data collected included: Demographic and disease characteristics; prescribed medication; symptoms; COPD Assessment Test (CAT); modified Medical Research Council dyspnoea score (mMRC); exacerbations; comorbidities; and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 60% of the population are male, with mean age of 65.7 years and FEV1 61.6% predicted. On entry to the study the majority of patients reported symptoms, most commonly exertional dyspnoea (85.9%) and cough (65.7%). According to GOLD 2010, 48.6% of patients were classified as GOLD II. GOLD 2011 classification was influenced by the symptoms criterion: 43.7 and 45.3% of patients were classified as GOLD B or D using CAT, compared with 26.4 and 34.0%, respectively, using mMRC. The majority of patients were receiving a LAMA-containing regimen, with 39.4% overall receiving ICS. A total of 78.3% of patients reported at least one comorbidity, most commonly cardiovascular.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, DACCORD is a large, prospective, non-interventional study that provides an informative and intriguing picture of the typical COPD patient in Germany.
authors.affiliation: Facharztforum Fürth, 90762, Fürth, Germany. Electronic address: heinrich.worth@t-online.de.
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Worth
authors.affiliation: Pulmonary Department, Mainz University Hospital, 55131, Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buhl
authors.affiliation: Department of Sleep and Respiratory Medicine, Evangelical Hospital Goettingen-Weende, 37120, Bovenden, Germany.
authors.forename: Carl-Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Criée
authors.affiliation: Group Practice and Centre for Allergy, Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, Red Cross Maingau Hospital, 60318, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kardos
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Primary Care, Novartis Pharma GmbH, D-90429, Nuernberg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mailänder
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University Medical Center Giessen and Marburg, Philipps-University Marburg, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL) 35043, Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Claus
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vogelmeier
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D005541:Forced Expiratory Volume; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011446:Prospective Studies; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013147:Spirometry / Q000379:methods; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Baseline; COPD; Observational; Registry