https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5246-972X
Dear Editor,
We read with interest the article recently published by Yildiz et al. entitled “Bronchodilator efficacy of tiotropium/formoterol (18/12 µg once daily via a Discair inhaler) [TIO/FORMfixed group], tiotropium alone (18 µg by Handihaler) [TIOmono group] or combined with formoterol (12 µg twice daily by Aerolizer) [TIO/FORMbid group] in adults with moderate-to-severe stable COPD”Citation1. In the study, it was shown that a single daily dose of TIO/FORMfixed is as effective as a combination of TIO/FORMbid and TIOmono, and more effective than TIOmono.
In the study, we saw that 12 patients in the TIOmono group, 7 patients in the TIO/FORMbid group and 9 patients in the TIO/FORMfixed group had had exacerbations in the last year. In addition, the mean CAT score was 18.3 in the TIOmono group, 17.1 in the TIO/FORMbid group and 17.1 in the TIO/FORMfixed group. When compared with other groups, we saw that patients in the TIOmono group had more exacerbations and were more symptomatic in the last year. In patients with COPD, as the number of exacerbations and symptoms increase, the severity of the disease increases and response to inhaler therapy gets worseCitation2. We believe that this condition may affect the results of the study.
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Declaration of funding
No funding to disclose.
Declaration of financial/other relationships
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Acknowledgements
None reported.
References
- Yildiz BP, Bayraktaroglu M, Gunen H. Bronchodilator efficacy of tiotropium/formoterol (18/12 µg once daily via a Discair inhaler), tiotropium alone (18 µg by Handihaler) or combined with formoterol (12 µg twice daily by Aerolizer) in adults with moderate-to-severe stable COPD. Curr Med Res Opin. 2019;35(12):1–10.
- López-Campos JL, Gallego EQ, Hernández LC. Status of and strategies for improving adherence to COPD treatment. COPD. 2019;14:1503–1515.