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- Ian A Yang1,2
- Juliet L Brown3
- Johnson George4
- Sue Jenkins5,6
- Christine F McDonald7,8
- Vanessa M McDonald9,10
- Kirsten Phillips3
- Brian J Smith11
- Nicholas A Zwar12
- Eli Dabscheck13
- 1 University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
- 2 Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane, QLD
- 3 COPD National Program, Lung Foundation Australia, Brisbane, QLD
- 4 Centre for Medicine Use and Safety, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC
- 5 Curtin University, Perth, WA
- 6 Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, WA
- 7 Austin Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
- 8 University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC
- 9 Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW
- 10 John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, NSW
- 11 Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Adelaide, SA
- 12 University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
- 13 Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC
Correspondence: ian.yang@health.qld.gov.au
Acknowledgements:
We thank Lung Foundation Australia and the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand for their support in the preparation of these guidelines.
Competing interests:
The conflict of interest declarations for Ian Yang, Johnson George, Sue Jenkins, Christine McDonald, Vanessa McDonald, Brian Smith, Nick Zwar and Eli Dabscheck are listed on the Lung Foundation Australia website ().
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Abstract
Introduction: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterised by persistent respiratory symptoms and chronic airflow limitation, and is associated with exacerbations and comorbidities. Advances in the management of COPD are updated quarterly in the national COPD guidelines, the COPD-X plan, published by Lung Foundation Australia in conjunction with the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and available at http://copdx.org.au.
Main recommendations:
Changes in management as result of the guideline: Spirometry remains the gold standard for diagnosing airflow obstruction and COPD. Non-pharmacological and pharmacological treatment should be used in a stepwise fashion to control symptoms and reduce exacerbation risk.