Treatments prescribed for the exacerbation: sudden onset versus gradual onset
| Medication prescribed during exacerbation interval | Sudden onset (N=662) | Gradual onset (N=569) | Exact p value |
| Antibiotics and/or systemic steroids | 391 (59.1%) | 365 (64.1%) | 0.069 |
| Oral or intravenous steroids | 285 (43.1%) | 276 (48.5%) | 0.058 |
| Oral or intravenous antibiotics | 342 (51.7%) | 320 (56.2%) | 0.109 |