High degree of supervision improves adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in children with asthma

Comparative effectiveness of budesonide inhalation suspension and montelukast in children with mild asthma in Korea

Objective: The comparative effectiveness of low-dose budesonide inhalation suspension (BIS) versus oral montelukast (MON) in managing asthma control among children with mild asthma was assessed in Korea.Methods: Claims from Korea's national health insurance database for children (2-17 years) with mild asthma (GINA 1 or 2) who initiated BIS or MON during 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Pre- and post-index windows were 1 year each. Adherence, persistency, asthma control, asthma-related health-care resource utilization, and costs were evaluated using unadjusted descriptive statistics and propensity score-matched regression analyses.Results: The number of children identified was 26,052 for unmatched (n = 1,221 BIS; n = 24,831 MON) and 2,290 for matched populations (n = 1,145 per cohort). Medication adherence, measured by proportion of days covered, was low for both cohorts but significantly higher for MON versus BIS (13.8% vs. 4.5%; p < .001). Time to loss of persistency was longer for MON versus BIS (82.3 vs. 78.4 days, respectively; p < .001). Mean number of post-index asthma-related office visits was 6.6 for BIS versus 8.3 for MON (p < .001). However, a greater proportion of patients in the BIS cohort had an asthma exacerbation-related office visit than the MON cohort (78.3% vs. 56.1%; p < .001). Asthma-related total health-care costs were higher with MON versus BIS (₩ 190,185 vs. ₩ 167,432, respectively; p < .001), likely driven by higher pharmaceutical costs associated with MON (₩ 69,113 vs. ₩ 49,225; p < .001).Conclusions: Montelukast patients had better adherence, a longer time to loss of persistency, and were less likely to experience an exacerbation-related office visit in the post-index period than BIS patients.

Psychological and lifestyle risk factors for asthma exacerbations and morbidity in children

Asthma is the most common childhood illness and disproportionately affects low-income, minority children who live in urban areas. A range of risk factors are associated with asthma morbidity and mortality, such as treatment non-adherence, exposure to environmental triggers, low-income households, exposure to chronic stress, child psychological problems, parental stress, family functioning, obesity, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diets. These risk factors often have complex interactions and inter-relationships. Comprehensive studies that explore the inter-relationships of these factors in accounting for asthma morbidity and mortality are needed and would help to inform clinical intervention. Considerable research has focused on interventions to improve adherence, asthma management, asthma symptoms, and quality of life for patients with asthma. Educational interventions combined with psychosocial interventions, such as behavioral, cognitive-behavioral, or family interventions, are beneficial and provide care in schools, homes, and emergency rooms can help to address barriers to accessing care for children and families. Additional recent research has explored the use of multidisciplinary, collaborative, integrated care with pediatric asthma patients, providing promising results. Integrated care could be ideal for addressing the multitude of complex psychosocial and wellness factors that play a role in childhood asthma, for increasing patient-centered care, and for promoting collaborative patient-provider relationships. Further research in this area is essential and would be beneficial.