Table 3– Relative rates of death, asthma death and hospitalisation for status asthmaticus during current exposure to short-acting β₂-agonists (SABA), long-acting β₂-agonists (LABA) or inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), stratified by exposure characteristics

Duration since first Rx and number of prior Rx in year before^#	SABA	LABA		ICS
Death
<3 months	3.5 (3.3–3.7)	2.1 (1.7–2.5)		2.6 (2.4–2.8)
3–12 months	2.1 (2.0–2.3)	1.4 (1.2–1.7)		1.7 (1.6–1.9)
≥1 yr
<3 Rx	Reference	Reference		Reference
3–6 Rx	1.0 (0.9–1.1)	0.9 (0.8–1.1)		1.0 (0.9–1.1)
7–12 Rx	1.3 (1.2–1.4)	1.0 (0.9–1.2)		1.3 (1.2–1.4)
≥13 Rx	1.9 (1.8–2.0)	1.4 (1.2–1.8)		1.7 (1.5–1.9)
Asthma death
<3 months	1.6 (1.1–2.3)	1.8 (0.8–4.0)	2.1 (1.4–3.3)
3–12 months	1.4 (0.9–2.2)	1.5 (0.7–3.3)	0.9 (0.6–1.6)
≥1 yr
<3 Rx	Reference	Reference	Reference
3–6 Rx	0.9 (0.7–1.3)	1.1 (0.5–2.3)	0.8 (0.6–1.2)
7–12 Rx	1.6 (1.2–2.1)	1.2 (0.6–2.6)	1.4 (1.0–2.0)
≥13 Rx	3.0 (2.2–4.2)	1.6 (0.6–4.2)	2.2 (1.4–3.4)
Hospitalisation (HES)
<3 months	1.7 (0.8–3.3)	0.7 (0.4–1.4)	1.2 (0.5–2.7)
3–12 months	1.7 (0.8–3.8)	0.8 (0.4–1.4)	1.4 (0.6–3.1)
≥1 yr
<3 Rx	Reference	Reference	Reference
3–6 Rx	1.8 (1.2–2.9)	0.5 (0.3–0.9)	1.6 (1.0–2.5)
7–12 Rx	3.0 (1.9–4.6)	0.6 (0.3–1.0)	1.8 (1.1–3.0)
≥13 Rx	6.0 (3.8–9.6)	0.7 (0.3–1.8)	2.0 (0.9–4.6)
GP visit for exacerbation
<3 months	0.6 (0.6–0.7)	0.8 (0.8–0.9)	0.7 (0.7–0.8)
3–12 months	1.1 (1.0–1.1)	0.9 (0.9–1.0)	1.0 (0.9–1.0)
≥1 yr
<3 Rx	Reference	Reference	Reference
3–6 Rx	1.3 (1.3–1.4)	1.0 (0.9–1.0)	1.2 (1.2–1.2)
7–12 Rx	1.7 (1.7–1.7)	1.1 (1.0–1.2)	1.5 (1.5–1.5)
≥13 Rx	2.5 (2.4–2.5)	1.4 (1.3–1.5)	1.8 (1.8–1.9)

Data are presented as RR (95% CI), adjusted for age, sex, calendar yr and comedication; no RRs could be estimated with small number of cases. Rx: prescription; HES: hospital episode statistics; GP: general practitioner. ^#: The classification of exposure characteristics was based on the main drug of interest in each column.