ArticleBMJ open2021
Potential clinical and economic impact of optimised maintenance therapy on discharged patients with COPD after hospitalisation for an exacerbation in China.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The patient-level economic burden of COPD in China: a systematic review of determinants and consequences.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Biologics for eosinophilic COPD: current applications and future prospects.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesChronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations requiring hospitalisation are a considerable burden, both clinically and economically. Although long-acting maintenance therapy is recommended in both the GOLD (Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease) and Chinese COPD guidelines, proper implementation is lacking. The objective of this study was to assess the clinical and economic impact of prescribing long-acting maintenance therapy to discharged patients with COPD after hospitalisation for an exacerbation in China by using an outcomes model.
designThis health economic analysis was conducted using a Markov cohort model from the Chinese healthcare payer perspective. Two health states (alive and dead) were modelled, and exacerbations were included as possible events.
settingThe target population was Chinese patients with COPD, >40 years of age, who were hospitalised for an exacerbation, with 1 year of follow-up. A recent COPD national prevalence study was referenced for population calculations.
interventionA hypothetical future scenario, where 100% of patients would receive long-acting maintenance therapy after hospitalisation for an exacerbation, was compared with the current scenario, in which only 38.5% of patients are receiving long-acting maintenance therapy after hospitalisation. OUTCOME MEASURES: Number of exacerbations, deaths and medical costs were measured.
resultsWe estimated that there were approximately 4 million Chinese patients with COPD who were hospitalised annually due to an exacerbation. By prescribing long-acting maintenance therapy, our model predicted that 917 360 exacerbations and 4034 deaths could be avoided, translating into cost savings of ¥3.5 billion (US$0.5 billion). Scenario analysis also showed that if the rate of exacerbations requiring hospitalisation was higher than our base case analysis, cost savings could reach up to ¥10.7 billion (US$1.5 billion).
conclusionAdministering long-acting maintenance therapy to more patients with COPD at hospital discharge could considerably reduce exacerbations and healthcare spending in China.
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