Erratum: Changes in initial COPD treatment choice over time and factors influencing prescribing decisions in UK primary care: a real-world study.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/npjpcrm.2016.

Historical cohort study examining comparative effectiveness of albuterol inhalers with and without integrated dose counter for patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Using a metered-dose inhaler (MDI) beyond the labeled number of actuations may result in inadequate dosing of medication, which can lead to poor clinical outcomes. This study compared respiratory-related emergency department (ED) visit rates in patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or both when they used albuterol MDIs with versus without dose counters.

Methods: This retrospective study used US claims data to identify patients (ages 4-64 years) with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or both, using albuterol MDIs with or without an integrated dose counter.

Changes in initial COPD treatment choice over time and factors influencing prescribing decisions in UK primary care: in UK primary care: a real-world, retrospective, observational.

Prescribing patterns in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are often inconsistent with published guidelines. This retrospective, observational study utilised data from the Optimum Patient Care Research Database to examine the changes in COPD prescribing patterns over time and to identify predictors of physician treatment choice for patients newly diagnosed with COPD. Initial therapy was defined as the treatment(s) prescribed at or within 1 year before COPD diagnosis.

Predicting frequent asthma exacerbations using blood eosinophil count and other patient data routinely available in clinical practice.

Purpose: Acute, severe asthma exacerbations can be difficult to predict and thus prevent. Patients who have frequent exacerbations are of particular concern. Practical exacerbation predictors are needed for these patients in the primary-care setting.

Blood eosinophil count and prospective annual asthma disease burden: a UK cohort study.

Background: Elevated sputum eosinophil counts predict asthma exacerbations and responsiveness to inhaled corticosteroids but are impractical to measure in primary care. We investigated the relation between blood eosinophil count and prospective annual asthma outcomes for a large UK cohort.

Methods: This historical cohort study used anonymised medical record data to identify primary care patients with asthma aged 12-80 years with 2 years of continuous records, including 1 year before (baseline) and 1 year after (outcome) their most recent eosinophil count.