Table 3.
Baseline characteristics of ICS users and non-users according to survival at day 30.
| ICS non-users (n = 3,562) | ICS users (n = 6,073) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alive n = 3,114 | Dead n = 448 | Alive n = 5,519 | Dead n = 554 | |
| Gender | ||||
| Female | 1,389 (44.6) | 171 (38.2) | 2,809 (50.9) | 266 (48.0) |
| Male | 1,725 (55.4) | 277 (61.8) | 2,710 (49.1) | 288 (52.0) |
| Age (years) | ||||
| Median [Q1–Q3] | 75.3 [67.3–81.7] | 79.7 [73.7–85.2] | 74.0 [66.8–80.0] | 79.1 [73.2–84.3] |
| 40–59 | 337 (10.8) | 20 (4.5) | 610 (11.1) | 17 (3.1) |
| 60–79 | 1,796 (57.7) | 211 (47.1) | 3,531 (64.0) | 282 (50.9) |
| 80+ | 981 (31.5) | 217 (48.4) | 1,378 (25.0) | 255 (46.0) |
| COPD history | ||||
| Duration of COPD (months) | 6.9 [0.0–34.3] | 16.5 [0.0–47.5] | 34.8 [6.9–73.8] | 39.7 [7.5–78.1] |
| Duration of COPD ≤1 year* | 1,740 (55.9) | 199 (44.4) | 1,664 (30.2) | 170 (30.7) |
| Patients with frequent exacerbations# | 186 (6.0) | 41 (9.2) | 1,243 (22.5) | 126 (22.7) |
| Airflow limitation | ||||
| Gold 1 (% of known GOLD) | 6 (14.0) | 1 (12.5) | 20 (3.5) | 1 (1.9) |
| Gold 2 (% of known GOLD) | 18 (41.9) | 4 (50.0) | 151 (26.1) | 5 (9.3) |
| Gold 3 (% of known GOLD) | 15 (34.9) | 3 (37.5) | 253 (43.8) | 29 (53.7) |
| Gold 4 (% of known GOLD) | 4 (9.3) | 0 (0.0) | 154 (26.6) | 19 (35.2) |
| Gold unknown | 3,071 (98.6) | 440 (98.2) | 4,941 (89.5) | 500 (90.3) |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married | 1,408 (45.2) | 178 (39.7) | 2,719 (49.3) | 209 (37.7) |
| Never married | 269 (8.6) | 38 (8.5) | 351 (6.4) | 43 (7.8) |
| Divorced | 384 (12.3) | 47 (10.5) | 755 (13.7) | 47 (8.5) |
| Widowed | 1,053 (33.8) | 184 (41.1) | 1,694 (30.7) | 255 (46.0) |
| Unknown | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Alcoholism-related disorders | 83 (2.7) | 11 (2.5) | 79 (1.4) | 7 (1.3) |
| Comorbidity | ||||
| Myocardal infarction | 375 (12.0) | 57 (12.7) | 569 (10.3) | 78 (14.1) |
| Congestive heart failure | 610 (19.6) | 115 (25.7) | 827 (15.0) | 136 (24.5) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 514 (16.5) | 92 (20.5) | 658 (11.9) | 93 (16.8) |
| Diabetes | 301 (9.7) | 47 (10.5) | 490 (8.9) | 48 (8.7) |
| Renal disease | 111 (3.6) | 22 (4.9) | 221 (4.0) | 28 (5.1) |
| Liver disease | 62 (2.0) | 6 (1.3) | 96 (1.7) | 8 (1.4) |
| Cancer | 456 (14.6) | 91 (20.3) | 832 (15.1) | 127 (22.9) |
| AIDS | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Modified CCI score | ||||
| Low (0) | 1,198 (38.5) | 138 (30.8) | 2,379 (43.1) | 174 (31.4) |
| Medium (1–2) | 1,314 (42.2) | 186 (41.5) | 2,208 (40.0) | 226 (40.8) |
| High (3+) | 602 (19.3) | 124 (27.7) | 932 (16.9) | 154 (27.8) |
| Concurrent medication use‡ | ||||
| Inhaled bronchodilators | 783 (25.1) | 118 (26.3) | 5,123 (92.8) | 506 (91.3) |
| LAMA only or LABA only | 325 (10.4) | 43 (9.6) | 2,343 (42.5) | 208 (37.6) |
| LAMA & LABA | 36 (1.2) | 6 (1.3) | 1,882 (34.1) | 181 (32.7) |
| Systemic steroids† | 548 (17.6) | 104 (23.2) | 2,986 (54.1) | 326 (58.8) |
| Immunomodulating agents | ||||
| Immunosuppressants | 46 (1.5) | 5 (1.1) | 64 (1.2) | 5 (0.9) |
| Antineoplastic agents | 9 (0.3) | 3 (0.7) | 21 (0.4) | 3 (0.5) |
| Cardiometabolic drugs | ||||
| Platelet aggregation inhibitors | 768 (24.7) | 144 (32.1) | 1,663 (30.1) | 198 (35.7) |
| Vitamin K antagonists | 257 (8.3) | 43 (9.6) | 443 (8.0) | 63 (11.4) |
| Antiarrhythmics | 373 (12.0) | 86 (19.2) | 690 (12.5) | 128 (23.1) |
| Diuretics | 1,486 (47.7) | 277 (61.8) | 3,371 (61.1) | 405 (73.1) |
| Beta blocking agents | 618 (19.8) | 85 (19.0) | 912 (16.5) | 102 (18.4) |
| Calcium channel blockers | 533 (17.1) | 80 (17.9) | 1,250 (22.6) | 116 (20.9) |
| Agents acting on the renin-angiotensin system | 696 (22.4) | 101 (22.5) | 1,509 (27.3) | 158 (28.5) |
| Other antihypertensive drugs | 29 (0.9) | 5 (1.1) | 62 (1.1) | 6 (1.1) |
| Insulin | 125 (4.0) | 14 (3.1) | 185 (3.4) | 18 (3.2) |
| Other glucose-lowering drugs | 203 (6.5) | 25 (5.6) | 423 (7.7) | 40 (7.2) |
| Statins | 472 (15.2) | 50 (11.2) | 1,144 (20.7) | 93 (16.8) |
| Proton pump inhibitors | 566 (18.2) | 101 (22.5) | 1,594 (28.9) | 176 (31.8) |
| Paracetamol | 942 (30.3) | 191 (42.6) | 2,119 (38.4) | 278 (50.2) |
| NSAIDs within 60 days | 290 (9.3) | 34 (7.6) | 670 (12.1) | 62 (11.2) |
| Antibiotics within 10 days | 628 (20.2) | 91 (20.3) | 1,339 (24.3) | 131 (23.6) |
| Macrolides | 194 (6.2) | 18 (4.0) | 489 (8.9) | 32 (5.8) |
| Penicillin V | 374 (12.0) | 45 (10.0) | 584 (10.6) | 55 (9.9) |
| Penicillin A | 62 (2.0) | 22 (4.9) | 156 (2.8) | 21 (3.8) |
| Penicillin A + enzyme inhibitor | 33 (1.1) | 8 (1.8) | 161 (2.9) | 22 (4.0) |
| Penicillin M | 11 (0.4) | 3 (0.7) | 29 (0.5) | 4 (0.7) |
| Tetracycline | 1 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) |
| Fluoroquinolone | 2 (0.1) | 1 (0.2) | 11 (0.2) | 2 (0.4) |
Data are presented as no. (%) except for age and duration of COPD [presented as median (Q1–Q3)]. AIDS, Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; CCI, Charlson Comorbidity Index; COPD, Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ICU, Intensive care unit; ICS, Inhaled corticosteroids; LABA, Long-acting beta agonists; LAMA, Long-acting muscarinic antagonists; NSAIDs, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. ICS current users: persons who had filled their most recent prescription within 180 days prior to the index date. Former users: persons who had redeemed their most recent prescription ≥ 181 days before the index date. Non-users: persons with no redeemed ICS prescriptions before the index date. Modified CCI score: computed excluding chronic lung disease. *Duration of COPD: time elapsed between first occurrence of hospital-coded COPD and the index date. # Frequent exacerbations: ≥ 2 exacerbations with short-term courses of oral corticosteroids or ≥ 1 exacerbation leading to hospital admission during the previous year. ‡NSAID use within 60 days before hospital admission. Antibiotic use within 10 days before hospital admission. Other concurrent medications within 365 days prior to admission. †Systemic steroid use refers to at least one prescription for systemic steroids during the year before the index date (chronic or occasional use, indication not available in the registry).