Mortality in the 4-year trial of tiotropium (UPLIFT) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the 4-year UPLIFT trial, tiotropium improved lung function and health-related quality of life and decreased exacerbations compared with usual respiratory medications except inhaled anticholinergics in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Mortality and its causes was a secondary endpoint in UPLIFT. We describe the effect of tiotropium on survival and analyze differences between mortality during treatment and during follow-up of discontinued patients. This study involved a randomized, double-blind trial comparing tiotropium with placebo in patients with COPD (>or=40 yr of age; postbronchodilator FEV(1)