What do systematic reviews say?

Antibiotics vs placebo

Antibiotics showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality compared with placebo (low certainty).

• Antibiotics for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 1.27 [0.49, 3.3]
  1 study · 301 participants
  Low

Antibiotics vs placebo

Antibiotics showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality WMD of compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Prophylactic antibiotic therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 0.87 [0.66, 1.15]
  6 studies · 3309 participants
  Moderate

Antibiotics vs placebo

Antibiotics showed no clear difference in all‐cause mortality ‐ inpatients compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antibiotics for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 2.48 [0.94, 6.55]
  2 studies · 214 participants
  Moderate

Antibiotics vs placebo

Antibiotics probably leads to lower all‐cause mortality ‐ ICU patients compared with placebo (moderate certainty).

• Antibiotics for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  OR 0.21 [0.06, 0.72]
  1 study · 93 participants
  Moderate

Macrolides vs placebo

• Macrolide antibiotics for bronchiectasis 2018 · Cochrane Headline outcomes only
  no estimate extracted
  7 studies · 540 participants
  Low