## 3 Results  
### Study Group Characteristics  
There were 440 patients with COPD (mean age 63.6 \(\pm\) 11.5 years). One-hundred-seventy-three (39.3%) of them were newly diagnosed. According to the ABCD classification, patients with a high risk of exacerbation (C&D) constituted 36.1% of the study group, and 46.9% of the subgroup was switched to Salflumix Easyhaler(r). Within the last 12 months, a history of disease exacerbation was noted at 67.7% and hospitalization in 13.9% of the whole group (Table 1). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**All Patients**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Newly**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**Switched**} \\  & **[N = 440]** & **Diagnosed** & **[N = 173]** & **[N = 267]** & **\(p\)** \\ \hline Sex: & & & & \\ \hline Women [N; \%] & 174; 39.5 & 72; 41.6 & 102; 38.2 & \\ \hline Men [N; \%] & 266; 60.5 & 101; 58.4 & 165; 61.8 & \\ \hline Age [years] & 63.6 \(\pm\) 11.5 & 60.0 \(\pm\) 11.1 & 66.1 \(\pm\) 11.1 & \textless{}0.001 \\ \textgreater{}65 years old [N; \%] & 214; 48.6 & 59; 34.1 & 155; 58.1 & \textless{}0.001 \\ \hline Place of residence: & & & & \\ \hline City [N; \%] & 296; 67.3 & 124; 71.7 & 172; 64.4 & \\ Village [N; \%] & 144; 32.7 & 49; 28.3 & 95; 35.6 & \\ \hline Education: & & & & \\ \hline Primary [N; \%] & 75; 17.0 & 22; 12.7 & 53; 19.9 & \\ \hline Vocational [N; \%] & 176; 40.0 & 54; 31.2 & 122; 45.7 & \\ \hline Secondary [N; \%] & 144; 32.7 & 74; 42.8 & 70; 26.2 & \\ \hline Higher [N; \%] & 45; 10.2 & 23; 13.3 & 22; 8.2 & \\ \hline Professional activity: & & & & \\ \hline Intellectual worker [N; \%] & 109; 24.8 & 58; 33.5 & 51; 19.1 & \\ \hline Physical worker [N; \%] & 116; 26.4 & 55; 31.8 & 61; 22.8 & \\ \hline Unemployed [N; \%] & 8; 1.8 & 5; 2.9 & 3; 1.1 & \\ \hline Pension or retired [N; \%] & 207; 47.0 & 55; 31.8 & 152; 56.9 & \\ \hline ABCD GOLD 2020 classification: & & & & \\ \hline Group A [N; \%] & 120; 27.3 & 74; 42.8 & 46; 17.2 & \\ \hline Group B [N; \%] & 161; 36.6 & 65; 37.6 & 96; 36.0 & \\ \hline Group C [N; \%] & 78; 17.7 & 25; 14.5 & 53; 19.9 & \\ \hline Group D [N; \%] & 81; 18.4 & 9; 5.2 & 72; 27.0 & \\ \hline COPD exacerbations in the last 12 months [N; \%] & 298; 67.7 & 96; 55.5 & 202; 75.7 & \textless{}0.001 \\ \hline The number of exacerbations per patient [N] & \(2.0\pm 1.5\) & \(1.7\pm 1.0\) & \(2.2\pm 1.6\) & 0.003 \\ \hline Hospitalization for COPD in the last 12 months [N; \%] & 61; 13.9 & 20; 11.6 & 41; 15.4 & 0.26 \\ \hline The number of hospitalizations per patient [N] & \(1.3\pm 0.9\) & \(1.2\pm 0.4\) & \(1.4\pm 1.0\) & 0.44 \\ \hline Indication to switch to Salflumix Easyhaler®: & & & & \\ \hline Insufficient control of the disease [N; \%] & - & - & 182; 68.2 & - \\ \hline Patients’ dissatisfaction from the previous device [N; \%] & - & - & 85; 31.8 & - \\ \hline Dose of Salflumix Easyhaler®: & & & & \\ \hline
50/250 ug twice daily [N; \%] & 169; 38.4 & 81; 46.8 & 88; 33.0 & \\ \hline
50/500 ug twice daily [N; \%] & 271; 61.6 & 92; 53.2 & 179; 67.0 & \\ \hline Duration of Salflumix Easyhaler® use: & & & & \\ \hline
2–4 weeks [N; \%] & 398; 90.5 & 162; 93.6 & 236; 88.4 & \\ \hline
5–8 weeks [N; \%] & 42; 9.5 & 11; 6.4 & 31; 11.6 & \\ \hline Other currently used medication for COPD [N; \%] & 175; 39.8 & 42; 24.3 & 133; 49.8 & \textless{}0.001 \\ \hline Comorbidity: & & & & \\ \hline Hypertension [N; \%] & 122; 27.7 & 35; 20.2 & 87; 32.6 & \textless{}0.01 \\ \hline Coronary artery disease [N; \%] & 33; 7.5 & 6; 3.5 & 27; 10.1 & 0.01 \\ \hline Heart failure [N; \%] & 16; 3.6 & 4; 2.3 & 12; 4.5 & 0.23 \\ \hline Heart arrhythmias [N; \%] & 12; 2.7 & 4; 2.3 & 8; 3.0 & 0.67 \\ \hline Past stroke [N; \%] & 3; 0.7 & 1; 0.6 & 2; 0.7 & 0.83 \\ \hline Type 2 diabetes [N; \%] & 40; 9.1 & 14; 8.1 & 26; 9.7 & 0.56 \\ \hline Cancer [N; \%] & 3; 0.7 & 0 & 3; 1.1 & - \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Characteristics of 440 COPD, newly diagnosed, and switched that recently commenced therapy with Salflumix Easyhaler®.