Reflections on the challenges of conducting an international multicentre randomized controlled trial of balance training in addition to pulmonary rehabilitation and its impact on fall incidence in people with COPD

BackgroundPulmonary rehabilitation (PR) is accepted as standard care for individuals with COPD. We conducted an international, multi-centred randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine if adding balance training to PR would reduce the incidence of falls in people with COPD. While there have been many trials investigating the effectiveness of PR, few have involved international collaboration. Successful execution of rehabilitation trials …