Prevalence Of Asthma Medication Use Research Articles

Five-fold increase in use of inhaled corticosteroids over 18 years in the general adult population in West Sweden

Asthma medication was increasingly used during the second part of the past century. There are few detailed data from population studies on use of asthma medication. The current study aimed to determine the use and determinants of asthma medication in West Sweden and to assess changes during the last two decades. From a random population sample participating in a survey on respiratory symptoms, 2000 individuals were randomly selected for clinical examinations and structured interviews, 1172 participated. All subjects reporting asthma (n = 1524) were also invited, and 834 participated. In total, 964 subjects with asthma participated. Asthma medication use was assessed in the general population and among two severity categories of asthma: multi-symptom asthma (MSA) and "other" asthma (having fewer symptoms). Current data, from 2010, was compared with data from 1992. Asthma medication was used by 11% of the population, 4.4% used ICS with concurrent use of LABA, 3.3% used ICS without LABA, while 3.2% only used SABA. Compared with 1992, the prevalence of asthma medication use had increased with 54%, and use of ICS had increased from 1.5% to 7.7%. Subjects with MSA reported using asthma medication more frequently and at higher doses, and a higher proportion used ICS.A shift in asthma medication use has occurred since 1992, with increased use of ICS and decreased use of SABA only, implying better asthma control on a population level. Multi-symptom asthma should alert the treating physician to consider under-medication and/or poor treatment adherence.

Medication exposure in pregnancy risk evaluation program: the prevalence of asthma medication use during pregnancy.

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in women of reproductive age, occurring in up to 8% of pregnancies. The objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of asthma medication use during pregnancy in a large diverse cohort. We identified women aged 15-45years who delivered a live born infant between 2001 and 2007 across 11 U.S. health plans within the Medication Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program (MEPREP). Using health plans' administrative and claims data, and birth certificate data, we identified deliveries for which women filled asthma medications from 90days before pregnancy through delivery. Prevalence (%) was calculated for asthma diagnosis and medication dispensing. There were 586,276 infants from 575,632 eligible deliveries in the MEPREP cohort. Asthma prevalence among mothers was 6.7%, increasing from 5.5% in 2001 to 7.8% in 2007. A total of 9.7% (n=55,914) of women were dispensed asthma medications during pregnancy. The overall prevalence of maintenance-only medication, rescue-only medication, and combined maintenance and rescue medication was 0.6, 6.7, and 2.4% respectively. The prevalence of maintenance-only use doubled during the study period from 0.4 to 0.8%, while rescue-only use decreased from 7.4 to 5.8%. In this large population-based pregnancy cohort, the prevalence of asthma diagnoses increased over time. The dispensing of maintenance-only medication increased over time, while rescue-only medication dispensing decreased over time.

389 Is the Higher Prevalence of Asthmatic Symptoms following Preterm Birth Restricted to Childhood?

Background and AimPreterm birth is associated with increased risk of asthmatic symptoms in childhood, but it seems uncertain whether this association persists into adulthood. We have investigated the association between...

Increased incidence of asthma in HIV-infected children treated with highly active antiretroviral therapy in the National Institutes of Health Women and Infants Transmission Study

Immunoreconstitution of HIV(+) patients after treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) appears to provoke inflammatory diseases. We sought to determine whether HIV(+) children receiving HAART (HIV(+) HAART(+)) have a higher incidence of asthma than HIV(+) children not receiving HAART (HIV(+) HAART(-)). Two thousand six hundred sixty-four children (193 HIV(+) and 2471 HIV(-) children) born to HIV(+) women were evaluated for the incidence and prevalence of asthma (ie, asthma medication use) and change of CD4(+) T-cell percentage with time. The HIV(+) HAART(+) children had higher CD4(+) T-cell percentages, lower CD8(+) T-cell percentages, and lower viral burdens than the HIV(+) HAART(-) children (P < or = .05 to P < or = .01). The cumulative incidence of asthma medication use in HIV(+) HAART(+) children at 13.5 years increased to 33.5% versus 11.5% in HIV(+) HAART(-) children (hazard ratio, 3.34; P = .01) and was equal to that in the HIV(-) children. In children born before the HAART era, the prevalence of asthma medication use for HIV(+) HAART(+) children at 11 years of age was 10.4% versus 3.8% for HIV(+) HAART(-) children (odds ratio, 3.38; P = .02) and was equal to that of the HIV(-) children. The rate of change of CD4(+) T cells around the time of first asthma medication for HIV(+) HAART(+) versus HIV(+) HAART(-) children was 0.81%/y versus -1.43%/y (P = .01). The increased incidence of asthma in HIV(+) HAART(+) children might be driven by immunoreconstitution of CD4(+) T cells.

Effects of Ambient Air Pollutants on Asthma Medication Use and Wheezing among Fourth-Grade School Children from 12 Southern California Communities Enrolled in The Children's Health Study

To investigate the effects of 12 monthly average air pollution levels on monthly prevalence of respiratory morbidity, the authors examined retrospective questionnaire data on 2034 4th-grade children from 12 Southern California communities that were enrolled in The Children's Health Study. Wheezing during the spring and summer months was associated with community levels of airborne particulate matter with a diameter < or = 10 microm (PM10) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.91; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.46-5.80), but was not associated with community levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5 (diameter < or = 2.5), nitric acid, or formic acid. Logistic regression was performed on data stratified into two seasonal groups, spring/summer and fall/winter. Among asthmatics, the monthly prevalence of asthma medication use was associated with monthly levels of ozone, nitric acid, and acetic acid (OR = 1.80 [95%CI = 1.19-2.70]; OR = 1.80 [95%CI = 1.23-2.65]; OR = 1.57 [95% CI = 1.11-2.21]; respectively). Asthma medication use was more prevalent among children who spent more time outdoors--with consequential exposure to ozone--than among children who spent more time indoors (OR = 3.07 [95%CI = 1.61-5.86]; OR = 1.31 [95%CI = 0.47-2.71]; respectively). The authors concluded that monthly variations in some ambient air pollutants were associated with monthly respiratory morbidity among school children.