Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular disease often co-exist and are both leading causes of death worldwide. Published data have previously suggested trends toward improved survival for patients taking long-acting β agonists combined with inhaled corticosteroids (LABA-ICS) through beneficial actions on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. We sought to explore this in a real-world setting.
Methods: A population-based longitudinal propensity score-matched cohort study was conducted in the United Kingdom, 1998-2015. Patients were identified from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) which is linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) mortality records. All patients had a validated diagnosis of COPD and were at high risk for cardiovascular events (history of myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, ischaemic heart disease, stroke and peripheral arterial disease). The primary outcome was all-cause mortality.
Results: The treatment group was composed of 2687 new users of LABA-ICS with COPD and comparisons were made in a control population of 2687 COPD patients prescribed LABAs alone. At three years follow-up death occurred in 358 (13.3%) patients in the treatment group and 427 (15.9%) patients in the control group. The use of LABA-ICS was modestly associated with improved survival compared to use of LABAs (hazard ratio 0.82, 95% CI 0.71-0.95, P = 0.007).
Conclusions: Among patients with COPD with either established cardiovascular disease or at high risk of an index cardiovascular event, LABA-ICS inhaled therapy, compared with LABAs alone, was associated with a significantly improved survival.
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