| No of exacerbations during the 1-year study | Tiotropium + placebo(N = 156 patients) | Tiotropium + fluticasone/salmeterol(N = 145 patients) |
| 0 | 37.2% | 40.0% |
| 1 | 28.8% | 23.4% |
| 2 | 13.5% | 17.9% |
| 3 | 9.6% | 10.3% |
| 4 | 2.6% | 3.4% |
| 5 | 4.5% | 3.4% |
| 6 | 2.6% | 1.4% |
| 7 | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| 8 | 0.6% | 0.0% |
| Total no of adjudicated exacerbations | 222 | 188 |
| Range | 0–8 | 0–6 |
| Total person-years of follow-up | 138.0 | 137.0 |
| Weighted mean adjudicated exacerbation rate per patient-year | 1.61 | 1.37 |