Glycopyrronium (GLY) is a pharmacological maintenance treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, its effectiveness and tolerability for COPD patients in routine clinical practice have not been well-investigated. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of GLY on health-related quality of life and its safety in patients with COPD in a routine clinical care setting. This multi-center, prospective, six-month observational study recruited patients diagnosed with COPD and treated with GLY at three medical centers in central Taiwan. The full analysis set (n = 102) had a significant improvement in the Clinical COPD Questionnaire total (mean ± SD = −0.39 ± 0.90, p = 0.002), symptoms (mean ± SD = −0.61 ± 0.90, p < 0.001) and mental state scores (mean ± SD = −0.54 ± 1.72, p = 0.021) but not the functional state score (mean ± SD = −0.10 ± 1.15, p = 0.529). During the observational period, 58 patients (52.73%) experienced adverse events; only one adverse event (dizziness) was suspected to be related to the study drug. Three patients (2.73%) discontinued the study and GLY treatment because of an adverse event. One patient (0.91%) died during the study period because of a cerebral infarction, which was judged to be not associated with GLY treatment. In conclusion, GLY could be effective in improving the health status and is safe for patients with COPD in a real-life setting.
Keywords: Clinical COPD Questionnaire; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; effectiveness; glycopyrronium; tolerability.