James F Donohue Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine, UNC School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA Dear editor Roskell et al present a systematic review comparing the long-acting beta2 agonists (LABA), olodaterol, and indacaterol in the July edition of the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.1 The end-points compared for the two LABAs were: change from baseline in trough forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) at week 12; quality of life analyzed by change from baseline in St George’s Respiratory Quotient (SGRQ; total score and proportion of responders) at week 12; transition dyspnea index (TDI), analyzed by change from baseline at week 12; use of rescue medication, analyzed by change from baseline in average number of puffs per day; and proportion of patients experiencing at least one exacerbation, analyzed in trials with a treatment duration of 24 weeks or longer reporting data for this outcome. The authors conclude that olodaterol and indacaterol have similar efficacy in patients with COPD. Read the original article