Fig. 5: Individual patient examples of SABA use patterns.

a SABA bursts without a confirmed exacerbation. b SABA burst with a confirmed exacerbation. c Continuous SABA overuse without SABA bursts or a confirmed exacerbation. Shaded blue areas represent SABA bursts, the red line represents a confirmed exacerbation, and the green line represents trend in SABA use. SABA bursts were defined as a daily mean of at least three inhalations in the last 2 days and an increase in daily mean inhalations in the last 2 days, compared with the previous 2 weeks. Multiple SABA bursts within a 7-day period were counted as one burst. SABA overuse was defined as at least two inhalations per week, every week, over the study period.