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Impacts on
Guidelines & Education 

The OPCRD database was used in several studies that have furthered our understanding of asthma and COPD. These studies have impacted both guidelines and education.

White Waves

Guidelines

Gold 2019: 

Brusselle G, Price D, Gruffydd-Jones K, et al. The inevitable drift to triple therapy in COPD: an analysis of prescribing pathways in the UK. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis 2015; 10:2207-17. [PubMed] [Full Text]

Findings:

  • Triple therapy refers to the prescribing of a long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) bronchodilator with a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS). It is prescribed to those with particularly severe COPD, classified as GOLD group D.

  • Currently, real-world prescription pathways leading up to triple therapy are not standardized and differ from guideline recommendations.

  • This study provides a comprehensive overview of these different prescription pathways that occur in COPD patients, beginning at the time of diagnosis to the first prescription of triple therapy.

BTS/SIGN 2019:

Blakey JD, Price DB, Pizzichini E, Popov TA, Dimitrov BD, Postma DS, et al. Identifying Risk of Future Asthma Attacks Using UK Medical Record Data: A Respiratory Effectiveness Group Initiative. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2017;5(4):1015-24.e8. [PubMed] [Full Text]

Findings:

  • Identified the factors associated with an increased risk of an acute asthma attack in adults.

  • A greatly increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with previously experiencing asthma attacks.

  • A moderately increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with inappropriate or excessive short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) use.

  • A slightly increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with older age, being female, having reduced lung function (PEF or FEV1), being obese and smoking.

  • The level of risk was unclear when it came to the factors of having a history of anaphylaxis, having comorbid gastro-oesophageal reflux, blood eosinophilia and poor medication adherence.

Price D, Wilson AM, Chisholm A, Rigazio A, Burden A, Thomas M, et al. Predicting frequent asthma exacerbations using blood eosinophil count and other patient data routinely available in clinical practice. J Asthma Allergy 2016;9:1-12. [PubMed] [Full Text]

Findings:

  • Identified the factors associated with an increased risk of an acute asthma attack in adults.

  • A greatly increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with previously experiencing asthma attacks.

  • A moderately increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with inappropriate or excessive short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) use.

  • A slightly increased risk of an asthma attack was associated with older age, being female, having reduced lung function (PEF or FEV1), being obese and smoking.

  • The level of risk was unclear when it came to the factors of having a history of anaphylaxis, having comorbid gastro-oesophageal reflux, blood eosinophilia and poor medication adherence.

Education

Severe Asthma Education Program by The American Thoracic Society and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Much of the data in this program is based on Jerry A. Krishnan’s article about asthma-COPD overlap (ACO), which used OPCRD as its data source. This article discovered that 1 in 5 UK patients had ACO; these results may help to better guide treatment strategies for this condition. You can earn up to four CME credits with this online program – one for each module you complete! 

These conditions are:

  • Module One: Explains the diagnosis, stratification, phenotype, and presentation associated with severe asthma.

  • Module Two: Outlines effective communication strategies to facilitate patient awareness and improve management of symptoms.

  • Module Three: Demonstrates evidence-based treatment plans for severe asthma.

  • Module Four: Reviews the clinical trial data on the safety and efficacy of existing targeted therapies for the treatment of severe asthma.

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