Costs, exacerbations and pneumonia after initiating combination tiotropium olodaterol versus triple therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abstract

Aim: To compare health plan-paid costs, exacerbations and pneumonia outcomes for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) initiating combination tiotropium olodaterol (TIO+OLO) versus triple therapy (TT: long-acting muscarinic antagonist+long-acting β2 agonists+inhaled corticosteroid). Patients & methods: COPD patients initiating TIO+OLO or TT between 1 January 2014 and 30 June 2016 were identified from a managed care Medicare database and balanced for baseline characteristics using inverse probability of treatment weighting before assessment of outcomes. Results: Annual COPD-related and all-cause costs were US$4118 (35%) and US$5384 (23%) lower for TIO+OLO versus TT (both p≤0.001). TIO+OLO patients had nearly half the severe exacerbations (8.3 vs 15.5%; p=0.014) and pneumonia was also less common (18.9 vs 30.9%; p<0.001). Conclusion: TIO+OLO was associated with improved economic and COPD health outcomes versus TT.