Unlock: Uncovering and noting long-term outcomes in COPD to enhance knowledge

Background Primary care researchers co-ordinating databases from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Australia are glad to announce the UNLOCK study: Uncovering and Noting Long-term Outcomes in COPD to enhance Knowledge. The group met at the IPCRG 2010 World Congress in Toronto and at a subsequent meeting at Stansted in September 2010. Objectives UNLOCK researchers recognise the need for establishing a common international dataset of relevant diagnostic and follow-up variables for COPD management in primary care. The primary purpose of the dataset is evaluation of the burden of disease (symptoms, limitations and exacerbations), the natural history of disease, treatment and follow-up, and co-morbidities in unselected primary care populations. Dataset The UNLOCK dataset should reflect the feasibility of data capture in real-world clinical practice, and ensure clinical relevance and completeness of the recorded data. Existing primary care datasets will be coupled and pooled to carry out analyses as appropriate to answer the group's research questions. Each country will create and maintain its own database which will be merged, as appropriate, in order to answer specific research questions.