Frequent prior exacerbations, healthcare resource utilisation, xanthine use, and rheumatoid arthritis were the strongest factors predicting the future increase of exacerbations. The findings that can improve understanding of exacerbation risk among COPD patients initiating triple therapy was conducted by a team of researchers from glaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA and University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. The researchers analysed data from 73,625 patients to find that prior exacerbation was largely correlated with post-index exacerbation time. It also suggested that diagnosis of anaemia (effect size – 5.68 days), or oral corticosteroids in the past month (effect size – 3.43 days) were associated with reduced exacerbation time.