Palliation of Dyspnea in Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (ROS-003)

January 22, 2013 updated by: Graeme Rocker, Nova Scotia Health Authority

Palliation of Dyspnea in Advanced Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Understanding Patients' and Caregivers' Experiences of Opioid Therapy

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects at least 750,000 Canadians and is currently the 4th leading cause of death in Canada. Almost everyone with COPD suffers from shortness of breath (dyspnea) that worsens over time despite standard treatment (inhalers, exercise programs and oxygen). Patients and families have identified relief from dyspnea as a top priority for improved care. New approaches are needed for treating advanced COPD to lessen the burden that it places on the lives of patients and families alike. Opioid drugs, such as morphine, can help in COPD in many ways, including reducing dyspnea, fear and anxiety. Opioids are used widely in cancer for similar symptoms. However, there are historical biases against their use in advanced COPD (mostly due to fear of side effects when much higher doses than the investigators intend have been used in the past). No studies have assessed the value to patients of using low dose opioids in advanced COPD in addition to conventional treatment. The investigators are planning a study that involves recording interviews with about 30 patients and their partner or key family member before and after starting treatment with low dose morphine, to understand their experiences with using morphine. The investigators will also ask them to complete questionnaires about quality of life, dyspnea, anxiety, depression and fear. Descriptions of experiences of using morphine have the potential to inform patients, families, clinicians and professional societies about the benefits and harms of opioid use for dyspnea in the advanced stages of a common serious lung disease when traditional treatments often fail. The investigators will conduct the study in both urban (Halifax and Saskatoon) and in a rural setting (New Brunswick). The investigators' study of an inexpensive and widely available treatment has the potential to improve care and outcomes in advanced COPD for the many Canadians living and dying with this serious lung disease.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

45

Phase

  • Phase 2
  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

    • New Brunswick
      • Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, E2L 4L2
        • Horizon Health Network
    • Nova Scotia
      • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 3A7
        • Capital District Health Authority
    • Saskatchewan
      • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 0W8
        • Royal University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • We define advanced COPD as including those with severe COPD by CTS criteria (i.e., severe shortness of breath resulting in the patient being too breathless to leave the house, or breathlessness after dressing/undressing (i.e., Medical Research Council (MRC) score of 5), or the presence of chronic respiratory failure (PaCO2>45) or clinical signs of right heart failure).
  • We will also include patients who are short of breath and stop walking after about 100 meters or a few minutes on the level (MRC score 4) with at least one the following:

    • BMI < 21;
    • post-bronchodilator FEV1 < 30% predicted;
    • one or more hospital admissions for acute exacerbation of COPD in the previous year.
  • MRC 4 patients will be recruited only if their baseline Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire - dyspnea domain (CRQ-D) score is < 5, an entry criterion used in a Canadian RCT involving patients with advanced lung disease.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients and/or caregivers with cognitive or other difficulties that would preclude questionnaire completion.
  • Inability to speak or understand English.
  • Patients considered to be dying or with an expected survival of less than 2 months.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Morphine, low dose, in addition to conventional treatment
Morphine dose titration
individualized titration
Other Names:
  • M-ESLON (DIN 02019930)
  • morphine sulphate (SR)
  • Doloral 1 (DIN 00614491)
  • morphine hydrochloride
  • Doloral 5 (DIN 00614505)
  • pms-Hydromorphone (DIN 01916386)
  • hydromorphone hydrochloride
  • Hydromorph Contin (DIN 02125323) - hydromorphone hydrochloride (SR)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To understand the experiences of patients and informal caregivers living with severe COPD, following the addition of opioid therapy to conventional treatment.
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
To explore the effect of opioid therapy on dyspnea and on quality of life, anxiety, depression, caregiver experiences and to determine proportion of patients finding opioids helpful at 4-6 months
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Graeme M Rocker, DM MHSc, Dalhousie University/QE II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, NS

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2010

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 21, 2009

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 22, 2009

First Posted (Estimate)

September 23, 2009

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

January 23, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 22, 2013

Last Verified

January 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

Clinical Trials on Opioid (morphine sulphate) in low dose

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