Dheda 2004.

Study characteristics
Methods	RCT; follow‐up: 6 months; control group: primary care follow‐up
Participants	Eligible: 33 Completed: 25, I: 10; C: 15 Mean age: I: 68 years, C: 71 years Sex (% male) both groups: unknown Inclusion criteria: diagnosis of COPD according to B TS guidelines, first admission to hospital with progressive symptoms, smoking history > 20 pack‐years Major exclusions: another dominant medical condition, mandatory reason for hospital follow‐up
Interventions	Intensive outpatient follow‐up program me following BTS guidelines Respiratory nurse and/or chest physician reviewed the intervention group ≥ 4 times in the 6‐month period (at 6, 8, 12, or 16 weeks). The following interventions were provided at some or all of these visits: spirometry with reversibility, review of inhaler technique and peak flow diary, ambulatory oxygen assessment, smoking cessation advice, steroid trial, nebuliser assessments, review of medication, advice about nutrition and exercise, and introduction to a patient support group Intervention duration: 6 months Involved disciplines: nurse, chest physician
Outcomes	SGRQ, SF‐36
Notes	Dominant component: structured follow‐up with nurse/GP
Risk of bias
Bias	Authors' judgement	Support for judgement
Random sequence generation (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: sequence generation not reported
Allocation concealment (selection bias)	Unclear risk	Comment: methods used to conceal the sequence of treatment group allocation were not available
Blinding of participants and personnel (performance bias) All outcomes	High risk	Comment: participants and treating therapists not likely to have been blind to group allocation
Blinding of outcome assessment (detection bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Comment: not reported; therefore unclear who scored outcome assessments (patients, caregivers, or outcome assessors)
Incomplete outcome data (attrition bias) All outcomes	Unclear risk	Comment: not clear whether results in SGRQ were described in the total population, as well as in patients who withdrew (n = 8) from the study
Selective reporting (reporting bias)	High risk	Comment: not all outcome measurements are given in measures; some are reported only as "there was no significant difference at 6 months in FEV1"