Reid 2010.

Trial name or title	A randomised double blind study of short course systemic steroids versus conventional 14 days course in acute exacerbations of COPD
Methods	Randomised controlled trial, blinded, parallel
Participants	Inclusion criteria: All patients admitted to the Royal Hobart Hospital with the primary diagnosis of acute exacerbation of COPD No age limit, males and females Exclusion criteria: Patients who had already received more than 1 oral CS dose from their GP before presentation, or who have received a treatment CS course within the past 1 month, will not be eligible Patients taking long‐term oral CS at a dose greater than 5 mg/d Significant co‐morbidities such as ongoing angina or current cardiac failure Pneumonic consolidation, lung cancer, fibrosis, bronchiectasis or asthma Inability to comply with instructions Patients with inadequate social supports: These patients often have prolonged admissions once the acute phase has resolved; ICS begun before admission will not be an exclusion criterion but will be taken into account in a subgroup analysis of exacerbations of COPD
Interventions	Intervention group 1: prednisolone 0.5 mg/kg for 14 days Intervention group 2: prednisolone of 1 mg/kg for 3 days (max 50 mg) + 11 days placebo Control group: placebo
Outcomes	Length of stay in hospital, rate of treatment failure, symptom score, lung function tests, sputum cellularity
Starting date	07/07/2007. Recruiting not completed
Contact information	Dr David Reid, Prof EH Walters. Menzies Research Institute, Tasmania, Hobart TAS 7001, Australia. +61 3 62267043; D.E.C.Reid@utas.edu.au
Notes

COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CS: corticosteroid; GP: general practitioner; ICS: inhaled corticosteroid.