TY - JOUR T1 - Medication prescribing for COPD in primary care databases JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 42 IS - Suppl 57 SP - P1872 AU - Simon Brill AU - Ethaar El-Emir AU - James Allinson AU - Alexander Mackay AU - Richa Singh AU - Anant Patel AU - Gavin Donaldson AU - Irwin Nazareth AU - Jadwiga Wedzicha Y1 - 2013/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P1872.abstract N2 - UK primary care COPD databases are heterogenous with many patients failing to fulfil diagnostic criteria upon spirometric retesting (Jones, 2008). This may suggest that patients without COPD are exposed to unnecessary medication.Using our experience of recruiting to COPD trials from primary care we examined the treatment administered to these patients.35 local primary care practices contacted patients aged >45 on their COPD database. Interested patients were screened including spirometry and medication history. A diagnosis of COPD was present if the FEV1/FVC ratio was <0.7 in previous smokers without another primary respiratory diagnosis. 172 patients were included for analysis.Only 124/172 (72%) patients screened met diagnostic criteria for COPD. 14 patients (8%) had normal spirometry; of these 6 (43%) were prescribed at least one of a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA), long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) or inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). 34 (20%) further patients did not meet spirometric criteria for COPD; 21 (62%) were prescribed at least one of the above medications. Medication use is summarised in Table 1.View this table:Table 1: Medication by spirometry (figures are n[%])Patients on primary care COPD databases often receive treatment for COPD without fulfilling diagnostic criteria. Further investigation is needed into the validity of the original diagnoses, requirement for retesting and the accuracy of these databases. This may avoid unnecessary treatment, excess risk and cost. ER -