OBJECTIVES: Limited information is available from low- and middle-income countries describing moderate/severe COPD-related healthcare resource utilization (HRU). We describe HRU for Argentinian subjects enrolled in IMPACT.

METHODS: IMPACT (NCT02164513), a 52-week, phase III, global study (N=10,355), evaluated fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) versus FF/VI or UMEC/VI in patients with moderate/severe COPD and history of exacerbations. We described demographic, clinical characteristics and HRU at baseline and during follow-up for Argentinian subjects. Average HRU per subject and estimated HRU annual rates are described for outpatient, inpatient and emergency room visits.

RESULTS: 972 subjects enrolled from Argentina had similar demographic and clinical characteristics to the intention-to-treat (ITT) population, but higher use of combinations with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) (90% vs. 77%) at baseline, mostly ICS + long-acting ẞ₂-agonist (67% vs. 32%) (a post-hoc summary). Lower proportion of Argentinian subjects had severe exacerbations within the previous year to screening and a higher proportion of moderate exacerbations versus ITT (8% vs. 26% for ≥1; 1% vs. 4% for ≥2); 63% of subjects had ≥2 moderate exacerbations versus 47% of the ITT population. Consistently, lower rates of on-treatment moderate/severe exacerbations were observed in Argentina, FF/UMEC/VI (0.65) versus FF/VI (0.74) or UMEC/VI (0.76), compared with the ITT population [(FF/UMEC/VI (0.92) versus FF/VI (1.05) or UMEC/VI (1.15)]. Generally, lower rates of COPD-related HRU were observed in the Argentinian population versus ITT, except for days spent in the intensive care unit [FF/UMEC/VI (0.21) versus FF/VI (0.18) or UMEC/VI (0.28) vs. ITT: FF/UMEC/VI (0.14) versus FF/VI (0.12) or UMEC/VI (0.19). Consistently, FF/UMEC/VI had fewer emergency room visits, and lower or similar outpatient visits compared to dual combinations in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS: On-treatment exposure-adjusted exacerbation rates were lower with FF/UMEC/VI compared with dual therapy in both Argentinian and ITT populations. Similarly, COPD-related HRU was lower with FF/UMEC/VI compared with dual therapy for both populations.