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Table 1 Eligibility criteria

From: Hospital-admitted COPD patients treated at home using telemedicine technology in The Virtual Hospital Trial: methods of a randomized effectiveness trial

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

• COPD GOLD stage III-IV (that is, FEV1/FVC <0.70 and FEV1 <50% of predicted value).

• Need of NIV or manual ventilation at time of randomization

• Acute exacerbation of COPD (for example, Anthonisen et al. definition [12]).

• Severely overweightb

• >45 years

• Serious comorbidity:

• pH >7.35

• Unstable heart diseasec

• Compliance (see, hear, the ability to understand and carry out self-monitoring tasks).

• Poorly regulated diabetesd

• Expected hospitalization > 2 daysa

• Malignancy

• Other diseases/conditions that make participation impossible (dementia, delirium etcetera).

• Temperature >38°C or need for IV antibiotics

• Noncompliance (nursing home resident, tourist etcetera).

• Participation in another trial

  1. ajudged by the attending doctor after initial acute management.
  2. bseverely overweight, causing immobility or Pickwick Syndrome.
  3. cangina pectoris, changes in the electrocardiogram that needed immediate treatment during admission.
  4. dneed for additional insulin during admission.
  5. COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, GOLD the global initiative for chronic obstructive lung disease, FEV1 forced expiratory volume in 1 second, FVC forced vital capacity, NIV non-invasive ventilation, IV, intravenous.