Clinical Characteristics of Asthma and COPD Overlap for Patients With Asthma and COPD in Hong Kong

March 17, 2026 updated by: Fanny W.S. Ko, Chinese University of Hong Kong

A Cross-sectional Study to Assess the Proportion and Clinical Characteristics of Asthma and COPD Overlap for Patients With Asthma and COPD in Hong Kong.

This study is to assess the prevalence of Asthma COPD Overlap in subjects with diagnosed asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The subsequent morbidity and mortality of subjects will be followed up for 3 years.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Rationale:

Around 15 to 20% of COPD patients have features of asthma. These patients have more frequent and more severe exacerbations, and higher medical utilization. The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines have given joint recommendations on the identification, diagnosis and treatment of these patients having Asthma-COPD Overlap (ACO). These are at present expert opinions and further studies are needed to establish the optimal definitions and treatment options. The recommendations proposed by the guidelines have been adapted for use in the Asia area countries. Nonetheless, the application to clinical practice has not been well established and there are no prevalence data available on the COPD with asthma symptom population or asthma with COPD symptoms population based on the recommended features for identification. This is the current data gap in Asia.

Primary objective:

To determine the proportion and clinical characteristics of patients with ACO as defined by the joint GINA and GOLD recommendation amongst diagnosed COPD and asthma patients seen at the out-patient clinics

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

1600

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

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • Prince of Wales 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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Subjects with asthma or COPD

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Subjects must fulfil all of the following criteria:

  • All patients with confirmed diagnosis of COPD (post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC<0.7 based on the medical records) 1 or asthma (defined as those with a consistent history and prior documented evidence of variable airflow obstruction, with evidence of an increase in FEV1 greater than 12% or 400 mL following bronchodilator or bronchial hyperresponsiveness on bronchial provocation testing, when stable) 6
  • Aged >40 years old
  • Signed written informed consent to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients currently with acute exacerbation of COPD by GOLD definition (any worsening of a patient's respiratory symptoms that is beyond normal day-to-day variations and requires a change in medication) 1 or acute exacerbation of asthma by GINA guideline. 6
  • Patients with respiratory diseases that can show similar symptoms to chronic airway diseases such as bronchiectasis, tuberculosis (TB)-destroyed lung parenchyma, endobronchial TB, and lung cancer, or those who have history of these diseases based on physician's judgment
  • Patients currently diagnosed with pneumonia and acute bronchitis
  • Patients currently randomized in other clinical studies

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

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of prevalence of Asthma COPD overlap among the asthma and COPD subjects.
Time Frame: 3 years
To determine the proportion and clinical characteristics of patients with ACO as defined by the joint GINA and GOLD recommendation amongst diagnosed COPD and asthma patients seen at the out-patient clinics. (Assessment: % of subjects with ACO among patients with asthma and COPD respectively)
3 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of patient with treatment that is different from the guidelines recommendation
Time Frame: 3 years
To evaluate the gap between guideline recommendations and real-world clinical practice in identifying COPD patients with asthma and asthma patients with COPD
3 years
The percentages of patients on various medications (e.g. inhaled steroid, LABA, LAMA)
Time Frame: 3 years
To review the medications given to COPD patients with asthma and asthma patients with COPD compared to guideline recommendations
3 years
The pecentages of patients receiving different symptoms control assessments (e.g. use of Asthma control test, use of COPD assessment test)
Time Frame: 3 years
To review the current practices of symptom control assessment
3 years
Percentages of subjects with morbidity (e.g. congestive heart failure)
Time Frame: 3 years
To assess the 3 year morbidity of ACO patient compared to COPD and asthma patients.
3 years
Percentages of subjects with mortality
Time Frame: 3 years
To assess the 3 year mortality of ACO patient compared to COPD and asthma
3 years
Percentages of patients with various Genetic markers
Time Frame: 3 years
Genetic markers got differentiating ACO patients from patients with COPD or asthma
3 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Fanny Ko, MD, Chinese University of Hong Kong

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 (Actual)

September 15, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 30, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 1, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 2, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

September 6, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 19, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 17, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CCUHK_Resp_ACOS_v1(5Apr2017)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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.

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