Childhood asthma. Balancing efficacy and adherence for optimum management.

In the United States, asthma is the most common cause of school absences due to chronic illness, and its incidence in the pediatric population is increasing. Although most cases of childhood asthma can be controlled with recently available medications, there is often a gap between the goal of optimal control and the actual persistence of symptoms. In this article, Dr Sveum explores one approach to the most advantageous management of childhood asthma-an approach that weighs the advantage of a higher rate of medication adherence in practice against greater medication efficacy in clinical trials.