Prescribed therapy for asthma: therapeutic ratios and outcomes.
BMC Fam Pract
; 16: 49, 2015 Apr 14.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-25880641
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) are the cornerstone of asthma therapy. The ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratios, calculated from claims data, indicate potentially risky disease management in asthma. Our aim was to assess the utility of ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratios from primary care electronic medical records (EMRs) in detecting patients at risk of asthma exacerbation, as approached by prescription of oral corticosteroids and/or antibiotics.METHODS:
Retrospective cohort studies were identified, using the Health Improvement Network general practice database (THIN, United Kingdom) and the Cegedim Longitudinal Patient Data (France). We selected asthma patients aged 16-40 years, with ≥ 4 prescriptions for asthma medications in 2007 and ≥ 1 prescription in 2008. For each country, three groups were defined according to ratio value in 2008 0% (non-ICS users), <50% (low-ICS-ratio group) and ≥ 50% (high-ICS-ratio group). Outcomes were marker of asthma exacerbations systemic corticosteroids and antibiotics. They were compared between groups in each country.RESULTS:
Among 38,637 British and 4,587 French patients, higher numbers of prescriptions per patient of systemic corticosteroids, antibiotics and total asthma medications were observed in the low-ICS-ratio groups compared to other groups (p < 0.0001 for each outcome in both countries). Likewise, low-ICS-ratio patients had more medical contacts (p < 0.0001 in both countries), suggesting poorly controlled asthma. ICS-treated patients had lower risks of receiving systemic corticosteroids in 2008 in the high-ICS-ratio group, compared to the low-ICS-ratio group RR = 0.54, 95%CI = [0.50-0.57] and RR = 0.78, 95%CI = [0.67-0.91] in the UK and France, respectively.CONCLUSIONS:
Patients with high ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratios presented fewer asthma-related outcomes. The low ICS-to-total-asthma-medication ratio calculated with EMRs data reflects insufficient prescribing of ICS relative to all asthma medications, which may lead to deteriorated asthma control.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Asma
/
Padrões de Prática Médica
/
Corticosteroides
/
Antibacterianos
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Fam Pract
Ano de publicação:
2015
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
França