Development of a performance-based toolkit of the treatable traits of functioning in hospitalised patients with exacerbation of COPD: a survey-based study protocol

Acknowledgements: We would like to express in advance our appreciation to the patients who will participate in the study. We thank the University Hospital of University Federal of São Carlos (HU-UFSCar) Brazilian Company of Hospital Services (EBSERH). J. Cruz acknowledges the support of the Center for Innovative Care and Health Technology (ciTechCare), funded by Portuguese national funds provided by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) (UIDB/05704/2020). Ethics statement: The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of São Carlos (process number 55298722.0.0000.5504). ; Support statement: This study is supported by Fundação de Apoio à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (numbers process: 2015/12763-4; 2015/26501-1 (Project grant); 2021/03493-4 (NTL scholarship)). The funding source had no involvement in this analysis or in the writing of this manuscript. Funding information for this article has been deposited with the Crossref Funder Registry. ; Background The management of COPD has been based on the premise of identifying problems that guide personalised treatment based on a multidimensional assessment, known as treatable traits. Exacerbation of COPD (ECOPD) results in physical and functional impairments, limitation of daily activities and negative impact on patients’ quality of life and prognosis. In this context, identifying treatable traits in patients with ECOPD is essential to properly guide individualised patient care. There is a need to develop a performance-based toolkit to identify the main treatable traits of functioning in hospitalised patients with ECOPD. Methods and analysis This is a study protocol of a survey method observational study to develop a performance-based toolkit. The study will include the following steps: 1) definition of treatable traits by both physiotherapists who provide or have provided care to hospitalised patients with ECOPD on a regular basis, and patients who have experienced at least one ECOPD which required hospitalisation; 2) ...