Association between blood eosinophils and acute exacerbation of COPD risk in patients with COPD in primary care

•We explored blood eosinophil counts and risk of acute COPD exacerbation in UK data.•Blood eosinophils were modelled as continuous rather than dichotomous variables.•Confounding by AECOPD history and inhaled corticosteroid use (ICS) was assessed.•Increasing blood eosinophil counts increased the risk of acute COPD exacerbation.•AECOPD history and ICS-use are associated with impact of eosinophils on AECOPD risk.