OBJECTIVES: To finalise and establish the scoring algorithm of the 12-item “COPD and activities of daily living (ADL)” questionnaire, a tool specifically developed to help in the detection of handicap in COPD patients and determine the handicap level, thus optimising COPD management in the primary care setting. METHODS: The “COPD and ADL” questionnaire was developed and tested with patients and clinicians. It was included for finalisation and validation in a multi-centre, cross-sectional, observational study involving 100 French lung specialists. Patients with COPD stage II to IV according to the GOLD classification were included. Finalisation of the questionnaire included: assessment of the quality of completion, verification of the unidimensionnality hypothesis using principal component analysis (PCA) and Rasch modelling (Partial Credit Model). RESULTS: Sixty lung specialists each included at least one patient. Two hundred and eighty two COPD patients were included, of whom 272 (96%) returned the “COPD and ADL” questionnaire. The quality of completion was very good (91% of questionnaires with no missing data), confirming the good acceptability of the items.  In the PCA, the first factor explained 58% of the total variance, confirming the a priori unidimensionnality hypothesis. The items “Impact of COPD on sexual life” and “Overall perception of handicap due to COPD” were considered for deletion from the score because they had high residual values in the Rasch analysis. After reduction to a 10-item score, the fit of the Rasch model was acceptable (χ2=27.452; p=0.599). CONCLUSIONS: The “COPD and ADL” questionnaire is a short instrument assessing the handicap level among COPD patients, specifically designed as a clinical tool to contribute to patient management. The next step will be the validation of this instrument, including the assessment of its relationships with other measures of health impairment in COPD patients.