Oral corticosteroid prescription patterns for asthma in France, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Eur Respir J
; 55(6)2020 06.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32165402
ABSTRACT
Oral corticosteroids (OCS) are used to manage asthma exacerbations and severe, uncontrolled asthma, but OCS use is associated with adverse effects. We aimed to describe the patterns of OCS use in the real-world management of patients with asthma in western Europe.We used electronic medical records from databases in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom from July 2011 through February 2018. Patients aged ≥12â
years with an asthma diagnosis, at least one non-OCS asthma medication within ±6â
months of diagnosis, and available data ≥6â
months prior to and ≥90â
days after cohort entry were included. High OCS use was defined as OCS ≥450â
mg prescribed in a 90-day window during follow-up. Baseline characteristics and OCS use during follow-up were described overall and by OCS use status.Of 702â685 patients with asthma, 14-44% were OCS users and 6-9% were high OCS users at some point during follow-up. Annual prevalence of high OCS use across all countries was â¼3%. High OCS users had a mean of between one and three annual OCS prescriptions, with an average daily OCS dosage of 1.3-2.2â
mg. For patients who continued to meet the high-use definition, daily OCS exposure was generally stable at 5.5-7.5â
mg for ≥2â
years, increasing the risk of adverse effects.Our study demonstrates that OCS use is relatively common across the four studied European countries. Data from this study may provide decisive clinical insights to inform primary care physicians and specialists involved in the management of severe, uncontrolled asthma.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Asma
/
Corticoesteroides
Tipo de estudio:
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Humans
País/Región como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Eur Respir J
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos