Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2001 Correlation of airway obstruction and patient-reported endpoints in clinical studies1 Dept of Clinical Biostatistics, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA and 2 Dept of Pulmonary and Immunology, Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA CORRESPONDENCE: S. Shingo, Merck Research Laboratories, PO Box 2000, RY33404, Rahway, NJ 07065, USA. Fax: 1 7325946075 Keywords: "as-needed" ß-agonist use, asthma, correlation, FEV1, PEF, symptom
Received: August 12, 1999
This work was supported by a grant from Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, NJ, USA.
To establish the correlation among asthma efficacy parameters over a long period, data from over 1500 patients in two one-year asthma clinical trials with montelukast, a Cys-LT1 antagonist, were analysed. Airway obstruction measurements, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and peak expiratory flow (PEF), were measured at clinic visits. Patients recorded daytime symptom score, "as-needed" ß-agonist use, and PEF on a daily basis.
Relationships among these parameters at baseline and during the one-year treatment period were established by correlation analyses. Multiple correlations between the airway obstruction (FEV1 and PEF) and patient-reported measurements were evaluated by canonical correlation analysis.
Pairwise correlations of the efficacy parameters over a one-year time period were stable. Canonical correlation between the airway obstruction and patient-reported asthma efficacy endpoints was low, indicating that each category of endpoints measures a distinctively different aspect of the disease.
It appears that at least one endpoint from each category should be used in asthma clinical studies.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||