Baseline characteristics of outpatients with COPD who were treated with short vs long course of OCS during the period of January 2010 to October 2017
| Characteristics | All (n=10 152) | Short course (n=6002) | Long course (n=4150) |
| Demographics | |||
| Age, median (IQR) | 70 (63–77) | 70 (62–76) | 70 (63–77) |
| Age≤62 | 2456 (24.2) | 1528 (25.5) | 928 (22.4) |
| 63–70 | 2835 (27.9) | 1670 (27.8) | 1165 (28.1) |
| 71–77 | 2586 (25.5) | 1523 (25.4) | 1063 (25.6) |
| ≥78 | 2275 (22.4) | 1281 (21.3) | 994 (23.9) |
| Male | 5095 (50.2) | 2962 (49.4) | 2133 (51.4) |
| MRC, n/median (IQR) | 3 (2–4) | 3 (2–4) | 3 (2–4) |
| FEV1≥80% | 451 (5.3) | 251 (4.9) | 200 (5.8) |
| 50%≤FEV1<80% | 3523 (41.1) | 2176 (42.3) | 1347 (39.3) |
| 30%<FEV1<50% | 3310 (38.6) | 2220 (39.3) | 1290 (37.6) |
| FEV≤30% | 1289 (15.0) | 698 (13.5) | 593 (17.3) |
| Exacerbations within the past year | 0 | 4601 (76.7) | 3176 (76.5) |
| 1 | 1011 (16.8) | 669 (16.1) | |
| ≥2 | 390 (6.5) | 305 (7.4) | |
| Inhaled corticosteroids | 7320 (72.1) | 4361 (72.7) | 2959 (71.3) |
| Inhaled LABA or LAMA | 8781 (86.5) | 5233 (87.2) | 3548 (85.5) |
| BMI, median (IQR) | 25 (21.3–29) | 25 (21.1–29) | 25 (21.5–29) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | |||
| 10.0–18.4 | 706 (8.2) | 416 (8.1) | 290 (8.4) |
| 18.5–24.9 | 3400 (39.7) | 2003 (39.2) | 1397 (40.4) |
| 25.0–29.9 | 4464 (52.1) | 2693 (52.7) | 1771 (51.2) |
| Total dose OCS (mg), median (IQR) | 250 (250–500) | 250 (250–250) | 500 (500–1000) |
| Smoking | |||
| Current smokers | 3264 (32.2) | 2030 (33.8) | 1234 (29.7) |
| Ex-smokers/non-smokers | 5253 (51.7) | 3075 (51.2) | 2178 (52.5) |
| Missing data | 1635 (16.1) | 897 (15.0) | 738 (17.8) |
| Comorbidities | |||
| Heart failure | 2075 (20.4) | 1194 (19.9) | 881 (21.2) |
| Atrial fibrillation | 2341 (23.1) | 1350 (22.5) | 991 (23.9) |
| Myocardial infarction | 1197 (11.8) | 701 (11.7) | 496 (11.9) |
| Hypertension | 4215 (41.5) | 2473 (41.2) | 1742 (42.0) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 1391 (13.7) | 789 (13.2) | 602 (14.5) |
| Peripheral vascular disease | 1783 (17.6) | 1046 (17.4) | 737 (17.8) |
| Cerebrovascular disease | 1592 (15.7) | 900 (15.0) | 692 (16.7) |
| Renal failure | 866 (8.5) | 484 (8.1) | 382 (9.2) |
| Depression | 669 (6.6) | 395 (6.6) | 274 (6.6) |
Data are presented as n (%) unless otherwise stated.
BMI, body mass index; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; LABA, long-acting β2-agonist; LAMA, long-acting muscarinic antagonist; MRC, Medical Research Council Dyspnoea Scale; OCS, oral corticosteroids.