Triple versus dual inhaler therapy in moderate‐to‐severe COPD: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Introduction</jats:title><jats:p>Treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is evolving specially with triple inhaler therapy.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives</jats:title><jats:p>To perform a meta‐analysis to ascertain the safety and efficacy of triple inhaler therapy consisting of an inhaled‐glucocorticoid (ICS), long‐acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) and long‐acting beta2‐agonist (LABA) when compared with dual therapy (ICS‐LABA or LAMA‐LABA).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We performed an electronic database search to include randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing between triple and dual inhalers. Pooled rate‐ratio (RR) or odds‐ratio (OR) for dichotomous data and weighted mean difference (MD) for continuous data were calculated with their corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>Our study included 12 RCTs totaling 19,322 patients, mean age of 65 ± 8.2 years and 68.2% were male. Pooled analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in moderate‐to‐severe COPD exacerbations with triple therapy (RR 0.75; 95% CI 0.69‐0.83; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01). Additionally, triple therapy caused significant increase in trough FEV1 (MD 0.09 L; 95% CI 0.07‐0.12; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01), significant reduction in the mean St. George's Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ) score (MD −1.67; 95% CI −2.02‐ −1.31; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01), and more patients experienced ≥ 4 points reduction of SGRQ score (OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.19‐1.35; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> < 0.01). Triple therapy was associated with an increased risk of pneumonia when compared to LABA/LAMA (OR 1.25; 95% 1.03‐1.97; <jats:italic>P</jats:italic> = 0.03) but there were no significant differences in other adverse events between triple and dual inhalers.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>Among patients with moderate‐to‐severe COPD, triple inhaler therapy was associated with a reduction of moderate‐to‐severe COPD exacerbations, improved lung function and improved quality of life when compared to dual inhaler therapy but with an increased pneumonia risk.</jats:p></jats:sec>