BACKGROUND: The study aimed to determine the feasibility and effectiveness of an introductory disease-specific educational program delivered during an acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD) on objective measures of disease-specific knowledge. METHODS: Patients admitted to a community hospital with an AECOPD were randomly assigned to a control group (standard care) or intervention group (standard care plus brief education). The intervention group received two 30-min education sessions in hospital or at home within 2 weeks of hospital admission. Feasibility measures included the number of eligible patients, compliance with the sessions, and number of follow-up measures completed. Disease-specific knowledge and informational needs were measured using the Bristol COPD Knowledge Questionnaire (BCKQ) and the Lung Information Needs Questionnaire (LINQ), respectively, before and after the intervention period. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients (mean age 72 +/- 10 years) with an AECOPD participated in the study. Of 102 approached patients, 75 consented to screening (73.5%) and 67 (66%) were eligible for the study. Thirty-four patients declined participation. All intervention patients (n = 15) completed the educational sessions and follow-up measures. Three patients (control group) did not complete the follow-up measures. The mean changes and SDs for the BCKQ in the intervention and control groups were 8 +/- 5.14 and 3.4 +/- 4.9, respectively (p = 0.02). No difference between groups was found for the LINQ (p = 0.80). CONCLUSIONS: A brief educational program delivered at the time of hospitalization for an AECOPD was feasible for a subset of patients, resulted in improved disease-specific knowledge, and may be a bridge to more active approaches. TRIAL REGISTRY: ClinicalTrials.gov; number NCT02321215.

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