OBJECTIVE: To test whether national patterns of asthma drug use, particularly inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), are related to the rate of acute severe asthma exacerbations. DESIGN: The relation of international trends in hospital admissions for asthma with asthma drug sales was examined using country-specific regressions over the period 1990-1999. Pooled estimates of the regression coefficients were calculated using random effects models. RESULTS: Data on asthma admissions and asthma drug sales (including the sub-category ICS) were obtained from 11 countries. There was a negative relationship between falling admissions and rising sales of respiratory drugs and ICS in 9 of these 11 countries. A pooled estimate of the change in asthma admission rate per 10,000 associated with a unit increase in sales rate was -6.3 (95% CI -10.4 - -2.3) for all asthma drugs and -11.2 (95% CI -19.7 - -2.8) for ICS. CONCLUSION: At the national level, there is good evidence that over the last decade, increased sales of asthma drugs, and ICS in particular, were associated with a decline in rates of hospital admission for asthma. This is consistent with a beneficial effect of increasing use of asthma drugs, but other explanations such as decreasing prevalence could also be responsible.
OBJECTIVE: To test whether national patterns of asthma drug use, particularly inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), are related to the rate of acute severe asthma exacerbations. DESIGN: The relation of international trends in hospital admissions for asthma with asthma drug sales was examined using country-specific regressions over the period 1990-1999. Pooled estimates of the regression coefficients were calculated using random effects models. RESULTS: Data on asthma admissions and asthma drug sales (including the sub-category ICS) were obtained from 11 countries. There was a negative relationship between falling admissions and rising sales of respiratory drugs and ICS in 9 of these 11 countries. A pooled estimate of the change in asthma admission rate per 10,000 associated with a unit increase in sales rate was -6.3 (95% CI -10.4 - -2.3) for all asthma drugs and -11.2 (95% CI -19.7 - -2.8) for ICS. CONCLUSION: At the national level, there is good evidence that over the last decade, increased sales of asthma drugs, and ICS in particular, were associated with a decline in rates of hospital admission for asthma. This is consistent with a beneficial effect of increasing use of asthma drugs, but other explanations such as decreasing prevalence could also be responsible.
Authors: Jay G Berry; Matt Hall; David E Hall; Dennis Z Kuo; Eyal Cohen; Rishi Agrawal; Kenneth D Mandl; Holly Clifton; John Neff Journal: JAMA Pediatr Date: 2013-02 Impact factor: 16.193
Authors: Bright I Nwaru; Mome Mukherjee; Ramyani P Gupta; Angela Farr; Martin Heaven; Andrew Stoddart; Amrita Bandyopadhyay; Deborah Fitzsimmons; Michael Shields; Ceri Phillips; George Chamberlain; Colin Fischbacher; Christopher Dibben; Chantelle Aftab; Colin R Simpson; Ronan Lyons; David Strachan; Gwyneth A Davies; Brian McKinstry; Aziz Sheikh Journal: J R Soc Med Date: 2015-10-02 Impact factor: 5.344
Authors: Francisco J Gonzalez-Barcala; Jorge Aboal; Luis Valdes; José M Carreira; Jose M Alvarez-Dobaño; Amalia Puga; María Teresa Garcia-Sanz; Bahi Takkouche Journal: Multidiscip Respir Med Date: 2011-04-30
Authors: Mome Mukherjee; Andrew Stoddart; Ramyani P Gupta; Bright I Nwaru; Angela Farr; Martin Heaven; Deborah Fitzsimmons; Amrita Bandyopadhyay; Chantelle Aftab; Colin R Simpson; Ronan A Lyons; Colin Fischbacher; Christopher Dibben; Michael D Shields; Ceri J Phillips; David P Strachan; Gwyneth A Davies; Brian McKinstry; Aziz Sheikh Journal: BMC Med Date: 2016-08-29 Impact factor: 8.775