4. Methods
4.1. Design
The COPE-III study is an international multicenter
randomised controlled trial of a training intervention in
patients with COPD and comorbidities. We aim to enroll 300 consecutive patients with COPD over 24 months from outpatient visits and hospitalisations at one hospital in the Netherlands (Medisch SpectrumTwente Enschede (n = 150))
and two public hospitals of the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network in Australia (Flinders Medical Centre and the Repatriation General Hospital) (n = 150)). This study is approved by the Medical Ethical Committee Twente and the Flinders Southern Adelaide Clinical Human Research Ethics Committee and is registered in the public Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ACTRN12612000514808).
Written informed consent is requested from all patients prior to participation in this study.