Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients
| Respimat® (n=77) | Breezhaler® (n=77) | Total (N=154) | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age – mean (SD) | 69.7 (10.0) | 67.0 (9.9) | 68.4 (10.0) | 0.102 |
| Male – n (%) | 69 (89.6) | 70 (90.9) | 139 (90.3) | 0.786 |
| BMI – n (%) | 0.063 | |||
| <18 kg/m2 | 1 (1.3) | 1 (1.3) | 2 (1.3) | |
| 18 to ≤30 kg/m2 | 48 (62.3) | 51 (66.2) | 99 (64.3) | |
| >30 kg/m2 | 27 (35.1) | 25 (32.5) | 52 (33.8) | |
| Smoking status – n (%) | 0.496 | |||
| Current smoker | 18 (23.4) | 15 (19.5) | 33 (21.4) | |
| Ex-smokers | 55 (71.4) | 60 (77.9) | 115 (74.7) | |
| Pack-years of smoking – mean (SD) | 57.9 (26.2) | 55.7 (24.7) | 56.8 (25.4) | 0.605 |
| Time since COPD diagnosis, years – (SD) | 6.3 (6.0) | 5.9 (5.4) | 6.1 (5.7) | 0.643 |
| Postbronchodilation spirometry – mean (SD) | ||||
| FEV1 – liters | 1.5 (0.6) | 1.6 (0.7) | 1.6 (0.6) | 0.214 |
| FEV1 – % of predicted value | 55.1 (16.5) | 56.5 (21.5) | 55.8 (19.1) | 0.652 |
| FVC – liters | 2.8 (0.8) | 3.1 (0.9) | 3.0 (0.9) | 0.035 |
| FVC – % of predicted value | 76.2 (16.7) | 81.7 (23.4) | 78.9 (20.4) | 0.098 |
| FEV1/FVC | 53.9 (12.9) | 51.8 (12.2) | 52.9 (12.5) | 0.304 |
| Respiratory medication – n (%) | ||||
| Inhaled anticholinergics | ||||
| Long-acting | ||||
| SPIRIVA® Respimat® | 77 (100) | 0 (0.0) | 77 (50.0) | |
| Short-acting | 8 (10.4) | 13 (16.9) | 21 (13.6) | 0.240 |
| Inhaled β-agonists | ||||
| Long-acting | ||||
| Hirobriz® Breezhaler® | 0 (0.0) | 16 (20.8) | 16 (10.4) | |
| Onbrez® Breezhaler® | 0 (0.0) | 51 (66.2) | 51 (33.1) | |
| Oslif® Breezhaler® | 0 (0.0) | 10 (13.0) | 10 (6.5) | |
| Short-acting | 46 (59.7) | 43 (55.8) | 89 (57.8) | 0.624 |
| Corticosteroids | ||||
| Inhaled | 52 (67.5) | 22 (28.6) | 74 (48.1) | <0.001 |
| Systemic | 3 (3.9) | 3 (3.9) | 6 (3.9) | 1.000 |
| Theophylline | 0 (0.0) | 2 (2.6) | 2 (1.3) | 0.497 |
| Received training on inhalation technique at initial prescription – n (%) | 73 (94.8) | 76 (98.7) | 149 (96.8) | 0.367 |
| Instructions given by – n (%) | ||||
| Doctor | 51 (69.9) | 42 (55.3) | 93 (62.4) | |
| Nurse | 18 (24.7) | 34 (44.7) | 52 (34.9) | |
| Pharmacist | 2 (2.7) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (1.3) | |
| Other | 1 (1.4) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.7) | |
| Missing | 1 (1.4) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.7) | |
Note: P-values are based on chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test for the categorical variables, and on a two-sample t-test for the continuous variables.
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in 1 second; FVC1, forced vital capacity; SD, standard deviation.