Severe exacerbation and pneumonia in COPD patients treated with fixed combinations of inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2 agonist.

0.88, 95% CI, 0.76–1.00), the difference did not reach statistical significance. 17 In contrast, the PATHOS study in Sweden, which enrolled two cohorts of 2,738 patients each, comprising more than 19,000 patient-years, who were followed for up to 11 years, found that budesonide/formoterol was significantly associated with fewer exacerbations than fluticasone/salmeterol in the first year and that the difference between the two combinations increased with study duration. 15 The discrepancy in findings between the population-based study performed in Canada and that in Sweden may be due to differences in sample size or study duration.

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