Outcomes Associated With Early or Delayed Maintenance Treatment Post-Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation

• Status: Completed
• Trial end date: 2011-03-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

The timing of initiating short-term treatment for COPD exacerbations with oral corticosteroids and/or antibiotic therapy has been shown to influence the recovery time of exacerbations with early initiation of exacerbation therapy having a faster symptom recovery compared to delayed initiation. While oral corticosteroids and/or antibiotic therapy are crucial for immediate exacerbation therapy, maintenance therapy with controller medications for COPD has been recommended to reduce the risk of future exacerbations. The initiation of maintenance therapy after a COPD exacerbation has been shown to be beneficial in the reduction of risk of future exacerbations. However, there is a lack of information on whether the timing of this initiation influences the risk of future exacerbations. The following study evaluates the impact of early versus delayed initiation of controller medication therapy for maintenance treatment following a COPD-related exacerbation on outcomes of future exacerbations and costs in patients with COPD.

Details

• Lead Sponsor: GlaxoSmithKline

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• at least 40 years of age,

• continuously enrolled for medical and pharmacy benefits during their pre- and post-period

• diagnosis of COPD (ICD 491.xx, 492.xx, 496.xx)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients were excluded if they had MTx in the pre-index period (to ensure inclusion of MTx-naïve patients) or if they received their first MTx during 181 to 365 days of the post-period (as dispensing of MTx unlikely to be related to the index exacerbation).

• Additionally, patients were excluded if they had any of the following comorbid conditions anytime during the study period: respiratory cancer, cystic fibrosis, fibrosis due to, bronchiectasis, pneumonociosis, pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary tuberculosis, or sarcoidosis, and

• also if they had other doses (unapproved in the US) of fluticasone propionate-salmeterol xinafoate combination (100/50 mcg or 500/50 mcg) or budesonide dipropionate-formoterol fumarate fixed dose combination (any dose).