Collaborative Cohort of Cohorts for COVID-19 Research (C4R): Genetic Epidemiology of COPD Study (COPDGene)

Cohort Description The Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) study is a non-interventional, multicenter, longitudinal, case-control study at 21 US sites of smokers with a ≥10 pack-year history of smoking, with and without COPD, and healthy never smokers. The initial goal was to characterize disease-related phenotypes and explore associations with susceptibility genes.Data Being Submitted Wave 1 questionnaire data includes 397 variables for up to 3683 COPDGene participants in C4RWave 2 questionnaire data includes 447 variables for up to 2191 COPDGene participants in C4RDried Blood Spot/Serosurvey data includes 7 variables for up to 1692 COPDGene participants in C4RDerived data includes 43 variables for up to 4082 COPDGene participants in C4RPhenotype data includes 113 variables for up to 4082 COPDGene participants in C4R Freeze 2: Wave 2 questionnaire data includes 447 variables for up to 2191 COPDGene participants in C4RDried Blood Spot/Serosurvey data includes 7 variables for up to 1692 COPDGene participants in C4RDerived data includes 43 variables for up to 4082 COPDGene participants in C4RPhenotype data includes 113 variables for up to 4082 COPDGene participants in C4R ]]>
COPD Cases: Inclusion Criteria: Age 45 - 80 years Smoking history of > 10 pack-years Diagnosis of COPD Stages 2, 3 and 4 by GOLD criteria (post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC < 0.70 and FEV1 < 80% predicted) Non-Hispanic White or non-Hispanic African American Exclusion Criteria: Concomitant respiratory disorder other than asthma or COPD (such as, but not limited to, diffuse bronchiectasis, cystic fibrosis, or interstitial lung disease) Lung surgery with removal of a lobe or more (including lung volume reduction surgery or lung transplantation) Lung cancer, known or suspected Surgical or bronchoscopic lung volume reduction Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy Uncontrolled cancer, defined as ongoing radiation therapy, ongoing chemotherapy, narcotics for pain control, or known metastatic disease History of radiation therapy to the chest (other than for breast cancer) Use of antibiotics and/or systemic steroids (new prescription or increased dose) for a COPD exacerbation or respiratory infection within the last month Inability to use albuterol First or second degree relative (parent, brother, sister, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, half-sibling, grandparent, grandchild) of a subject enrolled in COPDGene Subjects who indicate they are in more than one racial category Metal objects that may interfere with chest CT quantification including presence of a cardiac pacemaker, defibrillator, metal prosthetic heart valve, or metal shoulder prosthesis Subjects with affirmative answers to the following: Chest or abdominal surgery in the past three months Heart attack in the last three months Detached retina or eye surgery in the past three months Hospitalization for any other heart problem in the past month Participation in the ECLIPSE study, Boston Early-Onset COPD Study, or International COPD Genetics Network (Selected replication cohorts) Smokers without COPD: Inclusion Criteria: Age 45 - 80 years History (current or formerly) of cigarette smoking > 10 pack-years Post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC > 0.70 and FEV1 > 80% predicted. Non-Hispanic White or non-Hispanic African American Exclusion Criteria: Physician diagnosed respiratory disease other than COPD or asthma (based on subject report) Lung surgery with removal of a lobe or more (including lung volume reduction surgery and lung transplantation) Pregnancy or suspected pregnancy Lung cancer, known or suspected Uncontrolled cancer, defined as ongoing radiation therapy, ongoing chemotherapy, narcotics for pain control, or known metastatic disease History of radiation therapy to the chest Use of antibiotics (new prescription or increased dose) for a respiratory infection within the past month Use of systemic corticosteroids (new prescription or increased dose) for a respiratory process within the past month Inability to use albuterol First or second degree relative (parent, brother, sister, daughter, son, aunt, uncle, nephew, niece, half-sibling, grandparent, or grandchild) of a subject enrolled in COPDGene Subjects who indicate they are in more than one racial category Metal objects that may interfere with chest CT quantification including presence of a cardiac pacemaker, defibrillator, metal prosthetic heart valve, or metal shoulder prosthesis Subjects with affirmative answers to the following: Chest or abdominal surgery in the past three months Heart attack in the last three months Detached retina or eye surgery in the past three months Hospitalization for any other heart problem in the past month Participation in the ECLIPSE study, the Boston Early-Onset COPD Study, or the International COPD Genetics Network (selected replication cohorts) ]]>
This study was funded by the NHLBI in October 2007 as two U01 grants—one to National Jewish Medical and Research Center (PI: James D. Crapo) and one to Brigham and Women's Hospital (PI: Edwin K. Silverman). After a pilot study in 2007, study recruitment began in February 2008 at 21 clinical centers throughout the United States.Oct 2025: This new version includes C4R Freeze 2.0 data, which incorporates newly collected data from Wave 3; a review of medical records for COVID-19 events; Serosurvey 2.0; newly harmonized datasets for lung CT, brain MRI, and neurocognitive assessments; and updated datasets for derived and phenotype variables. Please note that brain MRI and neurocognitive assessments are not available for the COPDGene cohort.]]>