A Randomized, Single-Blind Study of Lansoprazole for the Prevention of Exacerbations of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease in Older Patients

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy reduces the frequency of common colds and exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). DESIGN: Twelve‐month, randomized, observer‐blind, controlled trial. SETTING: A university hospital and three city hospitals in Miyagi prefecture in Japan. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred patients with COPD (mean age ± SD 74.9 ± 8.2) participated. They were all ex‐smokers and had received conventional therapies for COPD, including smoking cessation and bronchodilators. Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease or gastroduodenal ulcer were excluded. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomly assigned to conventional therapies (control group) or conventional therapies plus PPI (lansoprazole 15 mg/d; PPI group) and observed for 12 months. MEASUREMENTS: Frequency of common colds and COPD exacerbations. RESULTS: The number of exacerbations per person in a year in the PPI group was significantly lower than that in the control group (0.34 ± 0.72 vs 1.18 ± 1.40; P