The 2023 GOLD Report: Updated Guidelines for Inhaled Pharmacological Therapy in Patients with Stable COPD

Over the past 22 years, annual GOLD Reports have documented important changes in guidance and recommendations for uniformly treating patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with the goal of improving outcomes in patients suffering from this condition. The most recent GOLD Report, released in 2023, shows continued refinement in several areas, including more precise definitions of COPD and exacerbations of COPD, a new set of parameters to assess exacerbation severity, an updated COPD assessment tool, updated guidelines for initial and follow-up treatment, new information regarding the association between pharmacological triple therapy and reduction in mortality, and new discussions of inhaler device choice and adherence to COPD medications. Whereas we do not address all of the new or updated material in GOLD’s 2023 Report, we summarize key changes in GOLD’s recommendations regarding inhalation therapy for stable COPD and frame these changes in the context of previous GOLD recommendations.