Respiratory diseases, including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), are common in England with the worst respiratory outcomes observed in the most deprived areas. There is limited published research to establish whether the rate of oral corticosteroid (OCS) prescribing for asthma and COPD is linked to levels of deprivation. This study carried out a multivariable regression analysis of publicly available data and found that deprivation is associated with a statistically significant increase in the proportion of patients receiving an OCS prescription for asthma or COPD at a GP practice level (p < 0.001). The model estimated that the proportion of prescriptions is 1.88% (95% CI 1.83% to 1.92%) and 2.84% (95% CI 2.70% to 2.98%) for the least deprived GP practice and the most deprived GP practice, respectively. This study lays the groundwork for future research using individual patient level data to consider the impact of variation in OCS prescribing rates.
Adrenal Cortex Hormones , Asthma , Practice Patterns, Physicians' , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive , Humans , England/epidemiology , Asthma/drug therapy , Asthma/epidemiology , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/administration & dosage , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/drug therapy , Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive/epidemiology , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data , Female , Male , Middle Aged , Administration, Oral , Adult , Drug Prescriptions/statistics & numerical data , Aged , Adolescent , Young Adult
