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Introduction

Thank you for taking part in this survey to help us to work out what people think are the most important questions around lung volume reduction procedures in people with COPD.
These procedures can be an effective form of treatment in some people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The two that are available through the NHS are:
(i) lung volume reduction surgery to remove the most damaged part of the lung
(ii) putting valves in the airways to block off the most damaged part of the lung
Both procedures can improve breathlessness, how far people can walk, and quality of life, as well as increasing life expectancy.
They are only suitable for a few percent of people with COPD though. Broadly people with COPD need to:
(i) be limited enough by their breathing for the procedure to be worth doing, but not so badly affected that the procedure would not be safe.
(ii) have the right pattern of lung function, showing that their lungs are hyperinflated trapping air when they try to breathe out
(iii) have the right pattern of emphysema on their CT scan
Why do a survey?
Although there is agreement about the fact that lung volume reduction procedures can be effective, there are a lot of things about how the procedures are done that we don’t have a clear answer to.
We want to ask as many people as possible – people with COPD, carers, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and other healthcare professionals - what they think the most important issues and questions are around lung volume reduction procedures.
We will then review all the responses, organise them into groups, and work out which seem to be the 10 most important areas. This will help to guide future research. The more ideas we get the better.
The survey should not take more than about 5 minutes. There are first a few questions about you so we can get a sense of who is answering. The next page asks you what you think are the important questions around lung volume reduction for COPD.
The responses will be stored anonymously and analysed for research and publication by the priority setting partnership. The key questions for research will be published.
At the end of the survey there is a link to the Asthma + Lung UK webpage that has more info about lung volume reduction procedures.

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