PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Leonardo M. Fabbri
AU  - Claus Vogelmeier
AU  - Maureen P.M.H. Rutten-van Mölken
AU  - Klaus F. Rabe
AU  - Thomas Glaab
AU  - Fee Rühmkorf
AU  - Hendrik Schmidt
AU  - Kai M. Beeh
TI  - Baseline characteristics of patients with frequent exacerbations in the POET-COPD™ trial
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 405
VI  - 38
IP  - Suppl 55
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/405.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/405.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2011 Sep 01; 38
AB  - Background: The randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, 1-year POET-COPD™ trial showed that tiotropium (18 μg qd) was superior to salmeterol (50 μg bid) in preventing moderate or severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations.Aims and objectives: An exploratory post-hoc subgroup analysis to compare baseline characteristics of frequent and infrequent exacerbators (patients experiencing ≥2 and ≤1 exacerbations during the trial, respectively).Methods: Important inclusion criteria were age ≥40 years, postbronchodilator forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) ≤70% predicted and ≥1 exacerbation in previous year.Results: Baseline characteristics of the 7376 patients who were randomized and treated are shown in the table.View this table:Conclusion: Compared with infrequent exacerbators, frequent exacerbators in POET-COPD™ were characterized at baseline by: more severe COPD; longer disease duration; increased LABA and ICS use; and more frequent antibiotic or systemic steroid courses in the past year.Funded by Boehringer Ingelheim/Pfizer