A new COPD Pocket Consultant app includes two recommended COPD patient assessment questionnaires and a full patient assessment to help determine treatment.
The 2016 GOLD guidelines continue to recommend this assessment using either the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) or the modified Medical Research Council Scale (mMRC) to perform this assessment. These are much shorter questionnaires than the most commonly used research questionnaire, the St George’s Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ). Interestingly, the CAT is owned by GlaxoSmithKline and can only be accessed via their website or the new COPD Pocket Consultant app. The mMRC can be found in some medical calculator apps.
The app includes the two most recommended COPD patient assessment questionnaires — the CAT and the mMRC — in app form, along with a full patient assessment that includes spirometry and COPD exacerbations. This full assessment is the current recommended method for determining which medications should be prescribed to COPD patients by the 2016 GOLD and 2011 ATS/ACP COPD guidelines. Unfortunately, the CAT is literally owned by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and this is likely why it is only available via this app, which is sponsored by GSK and the COPD Foundation.
