Disease modification and progression in pre-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: an official American Thoracic Society workshop report.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a highly prevalent and burdensome disease that develops over decades. Treatments for COPD are most commonly prescribed in later stages of the disease, leaving missed opportunities to modify the course of disease at earlier stages. This workshop was conducted to promote progress in the design and conduct of clinical trials of treatments that modify progression to COPD. The aims of the workshop were to provide an operational definition of pre-COPD and to discuss the elements and design of potential clinical trials in pre-COPD. The key focus areas of this workshop included: (1) defining a study population for pre-COPD clinical trials; (2) endpoints in pre-COPD clinical trials; and (3) design considerations for pre-COPD clinical trials.