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Fish oil supplementation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial

Overview of attention for article published in Pilot and Feasibility Studies, November 2017
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Title
Fish oil supplementation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial
Published in
Pilot and Feasibility Studies, November 2017
DOI 10.1186/s40814-017-0211-2
Pubmed ID
Authors

Ashley S. Fulton, Alison M. Coates, Marie T Williams, Peter R. C. Howe, Manohar L. Garg, Lisa G. Wood, Peter Frith, Alison M. Hill

Abstract

Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn-3PUFAs) may act as an effective adjunct therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition characterised by persistent airflow limitation and inflammation. However, the nature of this illness presents challenges for evaluating potential benefits. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of undertaking a randomised controlled trial of LCn-3PUFA supplementation in adults with COPD. A 16-week parallel, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled dietary supplementation trial was conducted. Participants diagnosed with COPD were randomly allocated to take six 1-g capsules of fish oil (3.6 g LCn-3PUFA) or corn oil (placebo) daily for 16 weeks. Key outcomes used to determine the feasibility of the trial included recruitment rate, participant retention rate and supplement adherence (blood biomarker and returned capsule count). An estimate of the effect size for clinical outcomes such as pulmonary function and functional exercise capacity was calculated. None of the key feasibility criteria were met. The enrolment target was 40 participants in 52 weeks; however, only 13 were finally enrolled, with just seven in the first 52 weeks. Eight participants completed the study (retention rate 62%). Targets for compliance were not achieved; red blood cell LCn-3PUFA content (expressed as percentage of total fatty acids) did not increase by more than 2% in the fish oil group; capsule counts were unreliable. As the target sample size was not achieved and only a small number of participants completed the study, it was not possible to use the variance in clinical outcomes to estimate a sample size for a future study. This study highlights major difficulties, especially with recruitment, in conducting this LCn-3PUFA supplementation trial in people with COPD, rendering the protocol unfeasible by predetermined criteria. A modified approach is needed to investigate potential health benefits of fish oil in people with COPD. A multicentre study with changes to inclusion and exclusion criteria is recommended. Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR), ACTRN12612000158864.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 37 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 37 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 10 27%
Student > Bachelor 7 19%
Student > Doctoral Student 2 5%
Professor 2 5%
Researcher 2 5%
Other 2 5%
Unknown 12 32%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 5 14%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 3 8%
Nursing and Health Professions 3 8%
Sports and Recreations 3 8%
Social Sciences 3 8%
Other 5 14%
Unknown 15 41%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 December 2017.
All research outputs
#14,369,953
of 23,011,300 outputs
Outputs from Pilot and Feasibility Studies
#661
of 1,047 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#236,262
of 438,204 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Pilot and Feasibility Studies
#22
of 34 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,011,300 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 35th percentile – i.e., 35% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,047 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.9. This one is in the 34th percentile – i.e., 34% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 438,204 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 43rd percentile – i.e., 43% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 34 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 32nd percentile – i.e., 32% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.