PROactive project prepares for validating new questionnaires of physical activity in patients with COPD

On 26 and 27 May, about 30 researchers from across Europe, PROactive project members, will meet at the Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) to finish preparations to redesign and validate two instruments that measure physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The PROactive consortium, comprising public and private research institutions as well as patient associations and the European Respiratory Society, created in response to the call of the European Commission about Innovative Medicines Initiatives [Innovative Medicines Initiatives (IMI)]. PROactive aims to develop and validate two new tools to measure physical activity in patients with COPD (a measure for the daily, and another for measurement in clinical practice), following the criteria for development of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROS). In the last year it has been developed two PROs following the EMEA and FDA methodological guidelines (group and individual interviews to patients everywhere, systematic review of the literature and expert opinion).

Next step is to redefine the PROs and study its validity, reproducibility, and ability to detect changes from an international multicenter epidemiological study led by Judith Garcia Aymerich, CREAL researcher. To start this study and ensure the validity of the results, CREAL researchers, PROactive members, have worked in developing the protocol and designing databases complying with international legal standards and methodologies, which will form the basis for meeting training of these days.

For further information about the project, click here.