Science AI Journal
Medicine · Research topic

Open research questions in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research

926 gap statements mined from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,783 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

Choosing where to publish on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research? See the ranked Medicine journals.

What the literature leaves open

  • The study also notes that the current understanding of the factors contributing to the variability in response to pulmonary rehabilitation is limited, making it challenging to develop effective interventions. The study highlights the need for further research to address the gap in knowledge and to develop more effective interventions for patients with advanced COPD.

    Behavioral Adaptation and Response to Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Older Patients with Advanced COPD: Beyond Clinical and Immune Biomarkers · 2026 · DOI

  • The current understanding of the factors contributing to the variability in response to pulmonary rehabilitation is limited. The study aims to address the gap in knowledge by investigating the association between behavioral adaptation and response to pulmonary rehabilitation. The study examines the relationship between coping strategies and rehabilitation response, which has not been fully explored in prior research.

    Behavioral Adaptation and Response to Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Older Patients with Advanced COPD: Beyond Clinical and Immune Biomarkers · 2026 · DOI

  • The paper identifies a gap in the understanding of COPD as a systemic disorder, with a focus on vascular endothelial dysfunction. It highlights the need for improved disease phenotyping and precision medicine strategies. The gap in current therapeutic strategies is also identified, with a focus on emerging biologics and novel endothelium-targeted approaches.

    COPD: From Endothelium to New Therapies · 2026 · DOI

  • National trends in PR use and related clinical testing for COPD in Korea have not been fully characterized. It remains unclear whether patients undergoing PR receive appropriate objective functional assessments. The use of objective functional assessments is infrequent.

    Nationwide trends in pulmonary rehabilitation and clinical testing practices for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korea: a National Health Insurance Service database study · 2026 · DOI

  • The absence of pulmonary function values or reports in EHR data can affect research cohorts. Prior studies have not addressed the issue of data provenance in COPD research. There is a need to evaluate data provenance rather than pulmonary function test utilization.

    Pulmonary function report capture and rule-based text indexing in an inpatient EHR cohort with recorded COPD · 2026 · DOI

  • Current conventional therapies have limited efficacy in halting disease progression and are associated with adverse effects. There is a need to identify safer and more effective therapeutic strategies for COPD. The underlying mechanisms and bioactive metabolites of Jiegeng Decoction for the treatment of COPD are not well understood.

    Jiegeng decoction ameliorates COPD-like pulmonary injury in association with changes in PPARγ expression, arachidonic acid metabolism, and gut microbial composition · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of comparable effect estimates among the included studies, precluding quantitative meta-analysis. The review identifies a need for further research on the impact of genetic variations on treatment outcomes and clinical responses in COPD patients. The study highlights the importance of considering genetic variability in the development of personalized therapeutic strategies for COPD management.

    Influence of genetic variants on the response to long-acting β2-agonists (LABAs) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) and combination therapies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a systematic review · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of updated epidemiologic data on the prevalence and risk factors of COPD and asthma in a provincial-metropolitan community in Pathumthani, Thailand.

    Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma in the Community of Pathumthani, Thailand · 2025 · DOI

  • The diagnosis and treatment of depression remain limited in primary care settings, especially in cases of moderate depression. There is a need to identify the stage of COPD at which to start searching for mood disorders. The study aims to address the gap in knowledge about the prevalence and predictors of anxiety and depression in mild and moderate COPD patients.

    Anxiety and Depression in Mild and Moderate COPD Patients: An Observational, Cross-Sectional Study in Greece · 2025 · DOI

  • There is a need to evaluate the effectiveness of low-dose computed tomography lung cancer screening programs in these countries.

    The Prevalence of Emphysema in Patients Undergoing Lung Cancer Screening in a Middle-Income Country · 2025 · DOI

  • One challenge is the difficulty in distinguishing between COPD and ACO due to their overlapping clinical and inflammatory features. Another challenge is the need to identify biomarkers that can differentiate between COPD and ACO. The study also faced challenges in measuring IL-13 levels, as each sample was analyzed only once due to budget limitations.

    The Role of Interleukin-13 in Chronic Airway Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in COPD and Asthma–COPD Overlap · 2025 · DOI

  • The distinction between COPD and ACO remains unclear due to their overlapping clinical and inflammatory features. There is a need to identify biomarkers that can differentiate between COPD and ACO. The role of IL-13 in chronic airway diseases, specifically in COPD and ACO, is not well understood.

    The Role of Interleukin-13 in Chronic Airway Diseases: A Cross-Sectional Study in COPD and Asthma–COPD Overlap · 2025 · DOI

  • Limited studies have focused on comprehensive self-management programs using smartphone apps for adults with COPD. There is a need to explore the effectiveness of such programs in improving clinical health outcomes.

    A Smartphone App Self-Management Program for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: Randomized Controlled Trial of Clinical Outcomes · 2025 · DOI

  • However, the relationship between tracheal morphometry and COPD severity, quality of life, functional capacity, and mortality remains poorly understood.

    Tracheal Eccentricity is Associated with Respiratory Morbidity and Mortality in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease · 2026 · DOI

  • Future studies using objective sleep assessments are warranted to clarify mechanisms and guide preventive strategies.

    Impact of obstructive lung disease and sleep apnea symptoms on cardiovascular risk and all-cause mortality: insights from a community-dwelling cohort · 2026 · DOI

  • In COPD, most studies have examined sleep characteristics in isolation, and limited evidence exists regarding sleep phenotypes and their impact on clinical outcomes.

    Sleep phenotypes and clinical outcomes in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A cohort study · 2026 · DOI

  • The clinical use of EBT in pre-COPD requires validation of sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, and ability to predict future COPD - Measurements in body fluids such as blood, plasma, or urine are not sufficiently sensitive or specific to represent the extent of lung inflammation - The main challenge is how to measure early inflammation in the lungs of patients…

    Exhaled Breath Temperature in COPD · 2026 · DOI

  • The hypothesis that EBT can detect inflammation-related changes and help identify smokers at increased risk of developing COPD in the future should be prospectively tested in larger studies - Early interventions based on EBT findings should be evaluated for efficacy in preventing overt…

    Exhaled Breath Temperature in COPD · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigation of the effectiveness of PR programs in improving patient outcomes, - Examination of the factors influencing PR utilization and adherence, - Development of strategies to increase access to PR and improve the quality…

    Nationwide trends in pulmonary rehabilitation and clinical testing practices for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Korea: a National Health Insurance Service database study · 2026 · DOI

  • Linking outpatient or laboratory data to EHR data, - Investigating the generalizability of the 10.8% capture rate to other hospitals, - Using the same workflow to locate linkage gaps and underrepresented…

    Pulmonary function report capture and rule-based text indexing in an inpatient EHR cohort with recorded COPD · 2026 · DOI

  • No multiple-testing correction was applied at the gene-screening stage, - The study used a rat model, - The study had a limited sample size of 6 rats per…

    Jiegeng decoction ameliorates COPD-like pulmonary injury in association with changes in PPARγ expression, arachidonic acid metabolism, and gut microbial composition · 2026 · DOI

  • Incomplete SNP reporting across studies, - Extreme clinical outcome heterogeneity across divergent endpoints, - Heterogeneity of statistical metrics derived from non-combinable analytical models, - Severe sample size imbalance, - Lack of comparable effect…

    Influence of genetic variants on the response to long-acting β2-agonists (LABAs) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMAs) and combination therapies in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): a systematic review · 2026 · DOI

  • Further studies are needed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of COPD and asthma in other regions, - Research on the effects of air pollution on COPD and asthma is necessary, - Studies on the clinical characteristics and pulmonary function profiles of COPD and asthma patients…

    Prevalence of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Asthma in the Community of Pathumthani, Thailand · 2025 · DOI

  • Further exploration of the more frequent use of anti-anxiety medications in the affected subgroup - Determining whether the onset of anxiety and depressive symptoms was established before or after COPD…

    Anxiety and Depression in Mild and Moderate COPD Patients: An Observational, Cross-Sectional Study in Greece · 2025 · DOI

  • The review reports conflicting results regarding changes in COPD exacerbation levels during the pandemic but attributes discrepancies only to lockdown policies and data timelines, without analysing critical nursing-related confounding factors.

    COPD Caregivers and Nursing Interventions: A Critical Reflection · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research

Most recent work

Find a gap in your own Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research sub-topic

This page shows what the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research literature already flags as unresolved. To narrow it to your specific question, search the Research Gap Finder: the search is free with a free account and lists the papers closest to your topic first. Unlocking that topic (50 credits, charged once) fills the comparison table from our 7.9M-paper local library and writes the gaps from its rows.

Open the Research Gap Finder →

Related topics in Medicine

Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and Education
4,200 open questions
Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
2,789 open questions
Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
2,285 open questions
Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers
2,273 open questions
Liver Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
2,102 open questions
Sports Performance and Training
1,952 open questions
Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
1,915 open questions
Mosquito-borne diseases and control
1,849 open questions
Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) The study examines the relationship between coping strategies and rehabilitation response, which has not been fully explored in prior research (“Behavioral Adaptation and Response to Pulmonary Rehabilitation in Older…”, 2026); (2) National trends in PR use and related clinical testing for COPD in Korea have not been fully characterized (“Nationwide trends in pulmonary rehabilitation and clinical testing practices…”, 2026); (3) There is a need to evaluate data provenance rather than pulmonary function test utilization (“Pulmonary function report capture and rule-based text indexing in an inpatient…”, 2026); (4) There is a need to identify safer and more effective therapeutic strategies for COPD (“Jiegeng decoction ameliorates COPD-like pulmonary injury in association with…”, 2026); (5) There is a lack of comparable effect estimates among the included studies, precluding quantitative meta-analysis (“Influence of genetic variants on the response to long-acting β2-agonists…”, 2026). 926 gap statements have been mined from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Research papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,783 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

Tools for your next paper

Gaps & Literature SearchFind open questions in any field — 1,100,000+ open gaps mined from our own library.Pre-CheckIs your paper ready? Acceptance odds for top, mid and open/emerging journals, in seconds.Journal FinderA ranked shortlist of target journals from a 17,500-venue index.Duplicate Publication CheckerCheck for prior publication across 7 sources and our local library.Citation GeneratorFreeA DOI or title → APA, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, BibTeX, RIS. No signup.Graphical Abstract MakerFreeTurn your findings into a colorblind-safe graphical abstract.

How Pre-Check worksHow AI Review works

Compare the category — Honest roundups of the AI research tools, ours listed alongside the alternatives.

Command palette

Jump anywhere, run any action.