Triple therapy consists of long-acting beta agonist (LABA) + inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) + long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and typically should be reserved for patients who have severe to very severe (FEV1 \<50%) COPD symptoms or for patients who have two or more exacerbations per year. However previous research from RiRL indicate that 50% of patients at GOLD stage II (moderate) receive ICS of which half were on triple therapy.
To allow for multiple analysis regarding the factors that influence the likelihood of being prescribed triple therapy, a bespoke COPD dataset will be created to include:
1. Disease severity markers:
2. Confirmation of a COPD diagnosis at initial date of COPD diagnosis
3. Standard co-morbidities fields
4. Demographic fields
This retrospective, observational study using data of COPD patients will assess treatment pathways (changes/step up) from initial date of COPD diagnosis with the prescription of triple therapy as the endpoint.
Specific questions that will be asked are:
1. Does the percentage of COPD patients prescribed triple therapy vary dependent on time of initial date of COPD diagnosis?
2. Does the time taken to the prescription of triple therapy vary dependent on initial date of COPD diagnosis?
