The Burden of Severe Asthma in France: A Case-Control Study Using a Medical Claims Database.

Background: Severe asthma (SA) is defined by treatment intensity. The availability of national databases allows accurate estimation of the prevalence, long-term outcomes, and costs of SA.

Objective: To provide accurate information on SA, focusing on comorbidities, mortality, health care resource consumption, and associated costs.

Defining the "Frequent Exacerbator" Phenotype in COPD: A Hypothesis-Free Approach.

Background: The COPD "frequent exacerbator" phenotype is usually defined by at least two treated exacerbations per year and is associated with a huge impact on patient health. However, existence of this phenotype and corresponding thresholds still need to be formally confirmed by statistical methods analyzing exacerbation profiles with no specific a priori hypothesis. The aim of this study was to confirm the existence of the frequent exacerbator phenotype with an innovative unbiased statistical analysis of prospectively recorded exacerbations.

Clinical characteristics and quality of life in women with COPD: an observational study.

Background: The impact of COPD on patient's quality of life is well established, but gender differences have received little attention.

Methods: To describe factors associated with the health-related quality of life by gender: A cross-sectional observational study (NCT01007734) was conducted in COPD patients followed by pulmonologists. The first patient included had to be a woman.

Do asthmatic smokers benefit as much as non-smokers on budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy? Results of an open label study.

Background: Studies with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in smoking asthmatics have mostly shown poorer treatment responses than in non-smoking asthmatics.

Methods: EuroSMART, an open, randomised, 6-month study, compared budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort (®) Turbuhaler(®))(h) maintenance and reliever therapy (Symbicort SMART(®)) at two maintenance doses of budesonide/formoterol (160/4.5 μg), 1 × 2 and 2 × 2, in patients with asthma who were symptomatic despite treatment with ICS ± long-acting β(2)-agonists.

Is the patient's baseline inhaled steroid dose a factor for choosing the budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy regimen?

Objective: Baseline inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) dose may be a factor for prescribers to consider when they select a budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy regimen for symptomatic asthmatics.

Methods: A 6-month randomized study compared two maintenance doses of budesonide/formoterol 160/4.5 µg, 1 × 2 and 2 × 2, plus as needed, in 8424 asthma patients with symptoms when treated with ICS ± an inhaled long-acting β(2)-agonist (LABA).

The effect of an information leaflet upon knowledge and awareness of COPD in potential sufferers. A randomized controlled study.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is markedly under-diagnosed, which may be related to the under-reporting of symptoms and poor awareness of the disease. We hypothesized that written information on COPD may help increase awareness of the disease in people at risk of developing it.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of an information leaflet sent by postal mail on the level of knowledge of COPD in subjects with or at risk of COPD.

Comparison of nebulized budesonide and oral prednisolone with placebo in the treatment of acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized controlled trial.

Nebulized budesonide has been used successfully to treat acute asthma exacerbation, and we hypothesized that it could also be effective for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, the efficacy of nebulized budesonide (Pulmicort Respules/Nebuamp), oral prednisolone, and placebo was compared in 199 patients with acute exacerbations of COPD requiring hospitalization. Patients received from randomization (H(0)) to 72 h (H(72)), 2 mg of budesonide every 6 h (n = 71), 30 mg of oral prednisolone every 12 h (n = 62), or placebo (n = 66).