Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the third leading cause of mortality in 2016 and was responsible for an estimated 3 million deaths worldwide that year, representing a vast global problem [1]. COPD exacerbations are responsible for the majority of the substantial burden that COPD places on healthcare systems [2,3]. In the USA, the annual cost of COPD management has been shown to increase proportionally with the number of COPD exacerbations, with COPD-related costs, including pharmacy claims for COPD treatments, more than six times higher in patients experiencing frequent (≥2/year) exacerbations ($4361) compared with those who had none ($644) [4].
