Table 3.
Baseline COPD-related therapy of study cohorts
| COPD-related therapies | n (%)
|
P-valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Similar-devices cohort (n=8,225) | Mixed-devices cohort (n=8,225) | ||
| Acute oral corticosteroid (OCS) coursesb | 0.019 | ||
| 0 | 6,010 (73.1) | 5,882 (71.5) | |
| 1 | 1,437 (17.5) | 1,557 (18.9) | |
| 2 | 489 (6.0) | 487 (5.9) | |
| ≥3 | 289 (3.5) | 299 (3.6) | |
| Antibiotic courses with a lower respiratory consultationc | 0.031 | ||
| 0 | 5,111 (62.1) | 5,205 (63.3) | |
| 1 | 1,803 (21.9) | 1,755 (21.3) | |
| 2 | 782 (9.5) | 725 (8.8) | |
| ≥3 | 529 (6.4) | 540 (6.6) | |
| Number of types of COPD treatment | NA | ||
| 1 | 4,374 (53.2) | 4,374 (53.2) | |
| 2 | 3,289 (40.0) | 3,289 (40.0) | |
| 3 | 545 (6.6) | 545 (6.6) | |
| 4 | 17 (0.2) | 17 (0.2) | |
| SABA inhaler usage (µg per day) | <0.001 | ||
| 0 | 735 (8.9) | 839 (10.2) | |
| 1–55 | 2,174 (26.4) | 1,896 (23.1) | |
| 55–165 | 1,927 (23.4) | 1,959 (23.8) | |
| 165–440 | 1,560 (19.0) | 1,588 (19.3) | |
| >440 | 1,829 (22.2) | 1,943 (23.6) | |
| COPD-related consultations | <0.001 | ||
| 0 | 3,532 (42.9) | 3,257 (39.6) | |
| 1 | 2,476 (30.1) | 2,501 (30.4) | |
| ≥2 | 2,217 (27.0) | 2,467 (30.0) | |
Notes:
P-values are from conditional logistic regression models.
All acute OCS courses that are definitely not maintenance therapy and/or all courses where dosing instructions suggest exacerbation treatment (eg, a reducing dose or a fixed term specified) and/or all courses with no dosing instructions, but unlikely to be maintenance therapy due to prescription strength or frequency of prescriptions.
Lower respiratory consultation refers to lower respiratory diagnostic codes (including asthma, COPD and LRTI Read codes), or asthma/COPD review codes excluding any monitoring letter codes, or lung function and/or asthma monitoring, and any additional respiratory examinations, referrals, chest X-rays, or events. b,cWhere >1 OCS course/antibiotic prescription occurred within 2 weeks of each other, these events were considered to be the result of the same course. NA indicates that no comparison was done as variable was used for matching.
Abbreviations: LRTI, lower respiratory tract infection; SABA, short-acting beta agonist.