Table 1 Recruitment and questioning procedure

Brazil

Random selection from a list obtained from

Telephone*¹ and

COPD patient associations [telephone

face-to-face*²

interviews], in front of major hospitals, and

within a variety of public areas with high

footfall rates, including parks and squares

[face-to-face approach]. The towns and

cities included São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro,

Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre,

Curitiba, Vitoria, Recife, and represent most

regions within the country.

China

Shanghai was selected as a metropolitan

Face-to-face*³

city. It was divided into 300 regions. 40

regions were randomly selected [the target

sample size for each region was 10

participants]. The interviewer selected the

starting point using a random method,

usually the crossing point of two major

roads. The interviewer then selected every

fifth property using the right-hand rule

[always turn to the right for the next potential

respondent]-side of the particular street

Germany

Random selection from a list obtained from

Telephone*¹

fieldwork, recruitment agencies and the

database at the CRO, self-help groups,

COPD patient associations

"http://www.lungenemphysem-copd.de, deustsche-

empysemgruppe.de] and panelists of online

institutes

Turkey

Two representative cities were selected

Face-to-face*³

from each of the six geographical regions:

Marmara [Istanbul and Bursa], Aegean

[Izmir and Manisa], Central Anatolia [Ankara

and Kayseri], Black Sea [Samsun and

Trabzon], Mediterranean [Adana and

Antalya] and Eastern Turkey [Diyarbakir and

Elazig]. The districts and the streets within

each city were randomly selected. A

stratified random sample of buildings was

used. The interviewers adopted a walking

rule for each street, approaching the

occupant at every fourth property on the

right-hand-side. All work places were also

contacted within each of these buildings.

UK

6-8 participants were recruited from 40

Telephone*¹

general practices and 25 pharmacies [at

least one per major town/city] and invited to

contact the researchers. The British Lung

Foundation regional groups and local

'Breathe Easy' groups also randomly

selected members.

US

Random selection from a known list of

Telephone*¹

people diagnosed with: COPD obtained

from a market research organization