OBJECTIVES: In Sweden, reimbursement for roflumilast is limited to eligible patients with severe to very severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are intolerant to inhaled corticosteroid therapy.  Therefore, patients being treated with roflumilast in Sweden may differ by their characteristics to patients in other countries. Our aim was to describe demographic and disease characteristics of patients with COPD prescribed roflumilast in Sweden, at time of first prescription. METHODS: Patients with diagnoses of COPD or chronic bronchitis (CB) who initiated use of roflumilast at age ≥40 during 2011 were identified from the Swedish Hospital Discharge Register and Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Summary statistics were calculated for demographic and disease characteristics at time of first prescription. The Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) was used to score the presence of comorbidities. RESULTS: CONCLUSIONS: Patients who are prescribed roflumilast carry a very severe disease burden. Appropriate methodology should be used when making comparisons between patients who are exposed to roflumilast to those who are not, using real world data in Sweden.