Duration and dosing of systemic corticosteroids for acute exacerbation of COPD, protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis of randomized trials and cohort studies.

To our knowledge, this represents an updated and most comprehensive review of the literature comparing different duration and dosing regimen of corticosteroid treatments in AECOPD, as we will include both RCTs and observational studies without date or language restrictions. We aim to validate prior meta-analyses and study findings on the efficacy of short duration corticosteroid therapy over longer treatments and to inform future research directions in dosing regimens.