Comparison of clinical efficacy between ultra-LABAs and ultra-LAMAs in COPD: a systemic review with meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND

A single long-acting bronchodilator, ultra-long acting muscarinic antagonist (ultra-LAMA) or ultra-long acting β-agonist (ultra-LABA) is preferred for the initial treatment of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); however, there are few head-to-head comparative studies between the two. Here, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was performed to compare the clinical efficacy between ultra-LABA and ultra-LAMA in patients with moderate-to-severe COPD.

METHODS

MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched (to March 1, 2017) to identify all published randomized controlled trials.

RESULTS

Of the 12,906 articles found by searching the databases, we obtained data from 10,591 patients with COPD (LABA, n=5,058; LAMA, n=5,533) in seven published studies. Our results showed that COPD exacerbation were significantly lower in patients taking ultra-LAMA than those taking ultra-LABA (odds ratio =0.857, P=0.0008). However, no significant differences were observed between ultra-LAMA and ultra-LABA patients regarding improvement in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 s, the transitional dyspnea index, or St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire score.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that COPD exacerbation occurred less often in patients taking an ultra-LAMA than in those taking an ultra-LABA with similar efficacy of lung function and quality of life.