Inhaled drugs to reduce exacerbations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a network meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) receive inhaled long-acting bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids. Conventional meta-analyses established that these drugs reduce COPD exacerbations when separately compared with placebo. However, there are relatively few head-to-head comparisons and conventional meta-analyses focus on single comparisons rather than on a simultaneous analysis of competing drug regimens that would allow rank ordering of their effectiveness. Therefore we assessed, using a network meta-analytic technique, the relative effectiveness of the common inhaled drug regimes used to reduce exacerbations in patients with COPD.

Methods

We conducted a systematic review and searched existing systematic reviews and electronic da

SUBMITTER: Puhan MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2636836 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature