Suissa S, et al. - In a real world clinical practice setting of COPD treatment, researchers compared the efficacy as well as the safety of two treatment regimens: combined long-acting beta₂-agonists (LABA) and long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) [LABA-LAMA] vs the combination of LABA with inhaled corticosteroids (LABA-ICS). From the United Kingdom’s Clinical Practice Research Datalink, a cohort of COPD patients (age 55 or older) was identified during 2002-2015. Using time-conditional high-dimensional propensity scores, they matched patients initiating LABA-LAMA on the same day (no ICS) to patients initiating LABA-ICS on the same day (no LAMA). For a one-year, participants were followed-up to determine the occurrence of moderate or severe COPD exacerbation and severe pneumonia. Based on the findings, COPD exacerbations could be prevented with combined LABA-LAMA inhalers as effectively as with combined LABA-ICS inhalers. Since fewer severe pneumonias were reported with a LABA-LAMA combination, therefore, it could be preferred.