About the Authors

Annemarije L. Kruis

a.l.kruis@lumc.nl

Affiliation Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

Björn Ställberg

Affiliation Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Rupert C. M. Jones

Affiliation Peninsula Medical School, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom

Ioanna G. Tsiligianni

Affiliations University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of General Practice, Groningen, The Netherlands, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, GRIAC Research Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands, Agia Barbara Health Care Centre, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Karin Lisspers

Affiliation Department of Public Health and Caring Science, Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Thys van der Molen

Affiliations University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of General Practice, Groningen, The Netherlands, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, GRIAC Research Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands

Jan Willem H. Kocks

Affiliations University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of General Practice, Groningen, The Netherlands, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, GRIAC Research Institute, Groningen, The Netherlands

Niels H. Chavannes

Affiliation Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands

Competing Interests

I have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: AK: no conflict of interest. BS: he took part in Advisory Board meetings supported by AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis and received payment for educational lectures, supported by AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck Sharp and Dohme, Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, Meda and Nycomed. He received payment for educational presentations supported by AstraZeneca, Nycomed, MSD and Meda. RJ: in the last 3 years he has been paid to speak at scientific and educational meetings or take part in advisory boards related to COPD for Almirall, Astra Zeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, GSK, Novartis, Pfizer and TEVA. He has undertaken research supported by Novartis and GSK. He was a consultant on the Global emPOWER educational programme and is a consultant for (i) COPDexchange educational website supported by Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim, (ii) for Health Intelligence and the (iii) iCOPD template produced by Almirall and the PCRS-UK. IT: no conflict of interest. KL: took part in board membership for the Swedish Respiratory Advisory Board, supported by Novartis and Meda. She acts as advisor for AstraZeneca. She received payment for lectures supported by AstraZeneca, MSD, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis and Pfizer. She received payment for development of educational presentations supported by AstraZeneca, MSD, Nycomed and Meda. TvdM: He received fees for lecturing, consultations, and his department received grants from Allmiral, Glaxo Smith Kline, MSD, Astrazeneka and Boehringer Ingelheim JwhK: received grants from stichting Zorgdraad, and fees for lectures from GlaxoSmithKline. He received travel grants from GlaxoSmithKline, Chiesi, Boehringer Ingelheim. He acts as advisor for GlaxoSmithKline, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis. NC: PICASSO, an initiative by Boehringer Ingelheim and Caphri Research Institute, provided funding for the Bocholtz Study. NC was part of the advisory board and individual consultancy for Boehringer Ingelheim. Novartis, Chiesi, Pfizer and AstraZeneca. He received payment for lectures supported by Boehringer Ingelheim and Novartis. The International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) provided funding for this research project, through an unrestricted grant by Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland, which is overseen by an independent Steering Group. This does not alter our adherence to all the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: AK BS RJ IT KL TvdM JWK NC. Performed the experiments: AK NC. Analyzed the data: AK NC. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: AK BS RJ IT KL TvdM JWK NC. Wrote the paper: AK NC. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: AK BS RJ IT KL TvdM JWK NC].