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Combination Treatments More Effective at Managing COPD
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A recently conducted comprehensive report had found that a combination treatment for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is more beneficial than using only one of the drugs.
A recently conducted comprehensive report had found that a combination treatment for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is more beneficial than using only one of the drugs.
Their study published in the European Respiratory Journal highlighted the benefits of using tiotropium, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and a long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) called olodaterol in conjunction over singularly.
A total of 5,162 patients from 25 countries were prescribed either a 2.5/5 μ fixed-dose combination (FDC) of tiotropium+olodaterol, a 2.5 μg or 5/5 μg dose of tiotropium, or a 5 μg dose of olodaterol. All medications were to be taken once daily.
The authors also reported a significant subset (86.4%) of COPD participants was comorbid with a cardiac disorder (21.4%) or a vascular disorder (48.1%), such as hypertension.
“The majority of patients were male (72.9% total) and approximately one-third were current smokers. Most patients were classified as Global initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage 2/3 (88.6%); the remaining patients (11.3%) were classified as GOLD stage 4,” said Roland Buhl, a Professor of Medicine and the Head of the Pulmonary Department at Mainz University Hospital in Germany, and his colleagues.
As a result of their 52-week study, the investigators found significant improvement in the lung function among patients who underwent combination treatment compared with their counterparts.
“Improvements in adjusted mean FEV1 AUC0—3 with tiotropium+olodaterol FDC 5/5 µg and 2.5/5 µg over the corresponding individual components in the individual studies and the combined analysis were statistically significant (p<0.0001 for all comparisons),” the authors reported.
While more than 84% of participants finished the study, the researchers also noted that patients undergoing monotherapy were more likely to discontinue treatment than patients on tiotropium plus olodaterol.
“These replicate studies confirm the efficacy and safety of once-daily dosing with tiotropium+olodaterol FDC as maintenance therapy in patients with moderate to very severe COPD (GOLD stage 2—4),” the investigators conclude. “The fixed dose of 5 μg of each appears to be optimal in the combination, providing significant improvement in all three primary endpoints (trough FEV1, FEV1 AUC0—3 and health status) compared to tiotropium or olodaterol administered alone.”
