LAMA/LABA (n=466) | Triple therapy (n=1181) | p-value | SMD | |
Age years | 69.2±10.7/70.0 (15.0) | 69.4±10.2/69.0 (14.0) | 0.672 | 2.0 |
≥40– <60 years | 92 (19.7%) | 194 (16.4%) | 0.278 | 6.8 |
≥60– <80 years | 295 (63.3%) | 778 (65.9%) | ||
≥80 years | 79 (17.0%) | 209 (17.7%) | ||
Males | 233 (50.0%) | 603 (51.1%) | 0.699 | 2.1 |
Index year | 2013.2±3.4/2014.0 (5.0) | 2012.5±2.9/2013.0 (4.0) | <0.001 | 21.8 |
BMI n (% nonmissing) | 463 (99.4%) | 1167 (98.8%) | 0.506 | 7.5 |
<18.5 kg·m−2 | 22 (4.8%) | 69 (5.9%) | ||
≥18.5– <25 kg·m−2 | 145 (31.3%) | 397 (34.0%) | ||
≥25– <30 kg·m−2 | 159 (34.3%) | 376 (32.2%) | ||
≥30 kg·m−2 | 137 (29.6%) | 325 (27.8%) | ||
Current smoker | ||||
No | 256 (54.9%) | 653 (55.3%) | 0.896 | 0.7 |
Yes | 210 (45.1%) | 528 (44.7%) | ||
Asthma diagnosis, ever | 38 (8.2%) | 153 (13.0%) | 0.006 | 15.7 |
Charlson Comorbidity Index | ||||
≤1 | 333 (71.5%) | 845 (71.5%) | 0.999 | 0.1 |
2–4 | 76 (16.3%) | 190 (16.1%) | ||
5–9 | 26 (5.6%) | 67 (5.7%) | ||
≥10 | 31 (6.7%) | 79 (6.7%) | ||
Blood eosinophil count n (% nonmissing) | 391 (83.9%) | 983 (83.2%) | 0.808 | 2.2 |
<0.05×109 cells per L | 8 (2.0%) | 31 (3.2%) | ||
0.05–0.14×109 cells per L | 110 (28.1%) | 267 (27.2%) | ||
0.15–0.24×109 cells per L | 110 (28.1%) | 281 (28.6%) | ||
0.25–0.34×109 cells per L | 80 (20.5%) | 187 (19.0%) | ||
0.3–0.44×109 cells per L | 27 (6.9%) | 86 (8.7%) | ||
0.4–0.54×109 cells per L | 23 (5.9%) | 54 (5.5%) | ||
0.5–0.64×109 cells per L | 10 (2.6%) | 30 (3.1%) | ||
≥0.65×109 cells per L | 23 (5.9%) | 47 (4.8%) | ||
SABA prescriptions | ||||
0 | 63 (13.5%) | 237 (20.1%) | 0.021 | 8.1 |
1–2 | 103 (22.1%) | 235 (19.9%) | ||
3–5 | 100 (21.5%) | 220 (18.6%) | ||
6–9 | 108 (23.2%) | 241 (20.4%) | ||
≥10 | 92 (19.7%) | 248 (21.0%) | ||
Salbutamol-equivalent average daily SABA dose | ||||
0 μg | 63 (13.5%) | 237 (20.1%) | 0.033 | 8.9 |
1–100 μg | 48 (10.3%) | 110 (9.3%) | ||
101–200 μg | 83 (17.8%) | 189 (16.0%) | ||
201–300 μg | 58 (12.4%) | 110 (9.3%) | ||
301–400 μg | 41 (8.8%) | 102 (8.6%) | ||
>400 μg | 173 (37.1%) | 433 (36.7%) | ||
SAMA prescriptions | ||||
0 | 415 (89.1%) | 1044 (88.4%) | 0.982 | 1.6 |
1 | 11 (2.4%) | 31 (2.6%) | ||
2 | 7 (1.5%) | 19 (1.6%) | ||
≥3 | 33 (7.1%) | 87 (7.4%) | ||
LAMA prescriptions | ||||
0 | 139 (29.8%) | 343 (29.0%) | 0.001 | 13.9 |
1–3 | 89 (19.1%) | 213 (18.0%) | ||
4–6 | 81 (17.4%) | 135 (11.4%) | ||
7–9 | 56 (12.0%) | 124 (10.5%) | ||
10–12 | 63 (13.5%) | 216 (18.3%) | ||
≥13 | 38 (8.2%) | 150 (12.7%) | ||
Average daily OCS dose | ||||
<2.5 mg | 379 (81.3%) | 983 (83.2%) | 0.433 | 1.2 |
≥2.5– <5 mg | 52 (11.2%) | 112 (9.5%) | ||
≥5– <7.5 mg | 18 (3.9%) | 31 (2.6%) | ||
≥7.5 mg | 16 (3.4%) | 49 (4.1%) | ||
5 mg | 0 (0.0%) | 4 (0.3%) | ||
6 mg | 1 (0.2%) | 2 (0.2%) | ||
Acute respiratory events in baseline year# | ||||
0 | 22 (4.7%) | 53 (4.5%) | 0.797 | 5.0 |
1 | 48 (10.3%) | 116 (9.8%) | ||
2 | 90 (19.3%) | 200 (16.9%) | ||
3 | 96 (20.6%) | 256 (21.7%) | ||
≥4 | 210 (45.1%) | 556 (47.1%) | ||
Exacerbations in baseline year# | ||||
2 | 287 (61.6%) | 698 (59.1%) | 0.718 | 3.4 |
3 | 105 (22.5%) | 284 (24.0%) | ||
4 | 34 (7.3%) | 101 (8.6%) | ||
≥5 | 40 (8.6%) | 98 (8.3%) | ||
Acute OCS courses in baseline year# | ||||
0 | 95 (20.4%) | 234 (19.8%) | 0.700 | 1.7 |
1 | 117 (25.1%) | 328 (27.8%) | ||
≥2 | 254 (54.5%) | 619 (52.4%) | ||
Antibiotic courses in baseline year# | ||||
0 | 80 (17.2%) | 202 (17.1%) | 0.627 | 2.9 |
1 | 115 (24.7%) | 296 (25.1%) | ||
2 | 183 (39.3%) | 435 (36.8%) | ||
3 | 63 (13.5%) | 165 (14.0%) | ||
4 | 13 (2.8%) | 55 (4.7%) | ||
≥5 | 12 (2.6%) | 28 (2.4%) | ||
GOLD severity (% nonmissing) | 373 (80.0%) | 957 (81.0%) | 0.394 | 8.0 |
Mild, FEV1 >80% predicted | 44 (11.8%) | 105 (11.0%) | ||
Moderate, FEV1 50–80% predicted | 190 (50.9%) | 447 (46.7%) | ||
Severe, FEV1 30–50% predicted | 94 (25.2%) | 281 (29.4%) | ||
Very severe, FEV1 <30% predicted | 45 (12.1%) | 124 (13.0%) | ||
GOLD risk group¶ n (% nonmissing) | 389 (83.5%) | 976 (82.6%) | 0.187 | 7.9 |
C | 236 (60.7%) | 554 (56.8%) | ||
D | 153 (39.3%) | 422 (43.2%) | ||
mMRC score n (% nonmissing) | 389 (83.5%) | 976 (82.6%) | 0.671 | 5.7 |
0, not troubled by breathlessness | 37 (9.5%) | 98 (10.0%) | ||
1, short of breath | 199 (51.2%) | 456 (46.7%) | ||
2, slower in walking | 96 (24.7%) | 266 (27.3%) | ||
3, stopping for breath | 49 (12.6%) | 131 (13.4%) | ||
4, too breathless to leave the house | 8 (2.1%) | 25 (2.6%) |
Data are presented as mean±sd/median (interquartile range) unless otherwise stated. LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonist; LABA: long-acting inhaled β-agonist; SMD: standardised mean difference; IQR: interquartile range; BMI: body mass index; SABA: short-acting inhaled β-agonist; SAMA: short-acting muscarinic antagonist; LAMA: long-acting muscarinic antagonist; OCS: oral corticosteroid; GOLD: Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease; FEV1: forced expiratory volume in 1 s; mMRC: modified Medical Research Council dyspnoea scale. #includes the index date; ¶: symptom and risk based. p-values are for the Kruskal–Wallis equality-of-populations rank test or Pearson's Chi-squared test of independent categories, where appropriate.