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QUESTIONS: What are the effects of cardioselective β1-blockers on the respiratory function of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)? How does treatment with β1-blockers affect response to β2-agonists?
Data sources
Clinical trials published in any language from 1966 to May 2001 were identified by searching Medline, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, and CINAHL and by scanning clinical symposia abstracts and references of identified studies and reviews.
Study selection
Studies were selected if they were randomised, controlled, blinded trials that assessed the effects of intravenous or oral cardioselective β-blockers on airway function (FEV1 at rest as litres or percentage of normal predicted value at baseline and follow up) or symptoms in patients with COPD (baseline FEV1 <80% of normal predicted value or as defined by the American Thoracic Society guidelines).
Data extraction
2 investigators independently extracted data on study design, patient characteristics, interventions, comparison groups, and outcomes (change …
Footnotes
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Source of funding: Garfield Weston Foundation, UK.
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For correspondence: Dr S Salpeter, Stanford University and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, San Jose, CA, USA. E-mail shelley.salpeter{at}hhs.co.santa-clara.ca.us.
↵* Information provided by author.