The UPLIFT trial was designed to investigate whether treating early stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with tiotropium improved outcomes and mortality.

The results were published in the October, 2009 edition of the Lancet medical journal.

UPLIFT was a double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled study that enrolled 5993 patients from 487 centers in 37 countries. Only patients aged 40 years or older who had a minimum smoking history of 10 pack-years were studied. Each patient was enrolled in one of four treatment arms .

The primary endpoints were the yearly rate of decline of mean pre- and post-bronchodilator forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1).

Secondary endpoints included number of exacerbations, lung function at each visit, all cause mortality, and mortality from lower respiratory tract conditions.

Results showed that the rate of decline of FEV1 post-bronchodilator was statistically improved for those receiving tiotropium (43 mL per year in the tiotropium group versus 49 mL per year in the placebo group; P = .024)

In addition, tiotropium use was associated with better overall quality of life and with a prolonged time to first exacerbation and time interval to first exacerbation requiring patient hospitalization.