Whittaker HR, et al. - Researchers determined if differences could be seen in FEV₁ decline between patients with and without inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), stratified by blood eosinophil (EOS) level. Participants included COPD patients (aged 35 years or older) who were current or ex-smokers with ≥2 FEV₁ measurements ≥6 months apart. These subjects were selected from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (primary care records) and Hospital Episode Statistics (hospital records). According to the findings, a link was evident between prevalent ICS use and slower rates of FEV₁ decline in COPD, irrespective of blood EOS level.