Please select the eligibility criteria that correspond to the clinical trial below.
Title: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel Group Trial Assessing the Proportion of Patients Experiencing an Exacerbation and Proportion of Patients Hospitalized for an Exacerbation Over 6 Months During Treatment With Tiotropium 18 Mcg Capsule Once Daily in Patients With COPD in a Veterans Affairs Setting
Brief Summary: The primary objective of this trial is to determine whether treatment with tiotropium (18 mcg) capsule once daily via the HandiHaler reduces the proportion of patients with COPD experiencing an exacerbation and the proportion of patients hospitalized for an exacerbation during a six month observation period.


Options:
A: N/A
B: Inclusion Criteria:

* Written informed consent.
* Male or female patients 40 years of age or older.
* Smoking history of at least 10 pack years.
* Diagnosis of COPD with post bronchodilator FEV1 less than or equal to 70% of predicted normal and FEV1\<70% of FVC and on stable respiratory medication.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Significant diseases other than COPD which in the opinion of the investigator may put the patient at risk or influence the patients ability to participate.
* Myocardial infarction in past 6 months.
* Unstable or life threatening arrhythmia in past year.
* Hospitalization for NYHA heart failure class III or IV in past year.
* Active tuberculosis.
* Asthma.
* Pulmonary resection.
* Malignancy treated with radiation or chemotherapy in past 5 years.
* Respiratory infection in 4 weeks prior to screening.
* Known hypersensitivity to anticholinergic drugs or components.
* Known moderate to severe renal impairment.
* Known narrow angle glaucoma.
* Significant symptomatic BPH or bladder neck obstruction.
* Need for oxygen therapy \>12 hr/day.
* Use of oral corticosteroids at unstable doses or \>10 mg/day.
C: Inclusion Criteria:

* Male and female adults aged ≥ 40 years, who have signed an Informed Consent Form prior to initiation of any study-related procedure
* Co-operative outpatients with a diagnosis of COPD (moderate to severe as classified by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (GOLD) Guidelines, 2005) and:

  * Smoking history of at least 20 pack years
  * Post-bronchodilator FEV1 \< 80% and ≥ 30% of the predicted normal value.
  * Post-bronchodilator FEV1/FVC \< 70% (Post refers to within 30 min of inhalation of 400 µg of salbutamol)

Exclusion Criteria:

* Pregnant or lactating females
* Patients who have been hospitalized for a COPD exacerbation in the 6 weeks prior to Visit 1 or during the run-in period
* Patients requiring long term oxygen therapy (\> 15 h a day)
* Patients who have had a respiratory tract infection 6 weeks prior to V1 (with further criteria)
* Patients with concomitant pulmonary disease, pulmonary tuberculosis, or clinically significant bronchiectasis
* Patients with a history of asthma (with further criteria)
* Patients with Type I or uncontrolled Type II diabetes
* Patients with contraindications for tiotropium
* Patients who have clinically relevant laboratory abnormalities or a clinically significant abnormality
* Any patient with active cancer or a history of cancer with less than 5 years disease free survival time
* Patients with a history of long QT syndrome or whose QTc interval is prolonged
* Patients with a hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or drugs with similar chemical structures
* Patients who have had treatment with the investigational drug (with further criteria)
* Patients who have had live attenuated vaccinations within 30 days prior to visit 1, or during run-in period
* Patients with known history of non compliance to medication
* Patients unable to satisfactorily use a dry powder inhaler device or perform spirometry measurements

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply
D: * Diagnosis of COPD according to the European Respiratory Society (ERS) (R95-3225) and matching the following criteria:

  * Stable moderate to severe airway obstruction
  * Baseline 30 % \< FEV1 \< 65 % of European Community of Coal and Steel (ECCS) predicted values (R94-1408).
  * Baseline FEV1/SVC\< 70 %.
* Smoking history \> 10 pack-years (p.y.). A p.y. was defined as the equivalent of smoking
* One pack of cigarettes per day for one year.
* History of exacerbation in the past year.

Answer: A