Abstract Rationale There are limited US real-world data on the clinical profile and healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with exacerbations and triple therapy use. Methods This real-world retrospective descriptive study used claims data from the Komodo Research Database (01/2016-12/2023). Eligible patients had continuous insurance eligibility and ≥2 COPD diagnoses in the year of interest (2019-2023) or earlier. The primary endpoint was COPD-related HCRU. Secondary endpoints included COPD-related healthcare costs. Annual US prevalence of COPD was estimated by counting the number of patients within age/sex strata, then standardizing to the US census age/sex distribution. Results In 2019, 1, 413, 727 patients with COPD were identified (including 79, 712 patients receiving inhaled triple therapy with ≥2 moderate or ≥ 1 severe exacerbation ITT-Ex), which increased to 1, 694, 339 (including 103, 673 ITT-Ex) in 2023. The annual US prevalence of COPD in 2019 was 2537/100, 000 people, increasing to 3093/100, 000 people in 2023. Demographics and clinical characteristics in the ITT-Ex and overall patient populations are presented in the Table. In the ITT-Ex group and overall population, the highest rate of moderate/severe exacerbations per patient-year (PPY) was in 2019 with a mean (standard deviation SD) of 2. 95 (1. 74) and 0. 80 (1. 36), respectively. COPD-related inpatient visits PPY were highest in 2019, decreasing through 2023 from 0. 73 (1. 21) to 0. 65 (1. 13) in the ITT-Ex group, and 0. 15 (0. 64) to 0. 11 (0. 56) in the overall population. COPD-related emergency department visits PPY were highest in 2019 in both the ITT-Ex and overall population: 0. 65 (2. 08) and 0. 15 (1. 05), respectively, decreasing to 0. 59 (2. 49) and 0. 11 (1. 01) in 2023, respectively. COPD-related outpatient visits PPY were highest in 2019 and decreased through 2023 in both groups, from 8. 61 (18. 74) to 7. 22 (20. 52) in the ITT-Ex group, and from 2. 25 (10. 52) to 1. 83 (10. 90) in the overall population. Total COPD-related healthcare (medical and pharmacy) costs per patient per year were greatest in 2019 and decreased through 2023, from 20, 607 (30, 670) to 17, 823 (29, 789) in the ITT-Ex group, and from 4, 702 (16, 639) to 3, 756 (13, 942) overall. The lower costs observed in the overall population likely reflect the inclusion of a larger pool of patients with COPD, including those with milder disease severity. Conclusions Patients with COPD and exacerbations treated with inhaled triple therapy experience a greater clinical and economic burden than the overall COPD population, highlighting an unmet need of targeted therapy in this patient subset. Funding GSK (300072). This abstract is funded by: GSK (300072)
Mannino et al. (2026) studied this question.