Changes in the use of anti-asthmatic

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to describe changes in pharmacotherapy for asthma since the early 1990s in an international cohort of young and middle-aged adults. A total of 28 centres from 14 countries participated in a longitudinal study. The study included 8,829 subjects with a mean follow-up time of 8.7 yrs. Change in the prevalence of use for medication was expressed as absolute net change (95 % confidence interval) standardised to a 10-yr period. The use of anti-asthmatics was found to have increased by 3.1 % (2.4–3.7%) and the prevalence of symptomatic asthma by 4.0 % (3.5–4.5%). In the sample with asthma in both surveys (n5423), the use of inhaled corticosteroids increased by 12.2 % (6.6–17.8%). Despite this, only 17.2 % were using inhaled corticosteroids on a daily basis at follow-up. Females with continuous asthma were more likely, compared with males, and smokers with asthma, to have started using inhaled corticosteroids since the first survey. The use of anti-asthmatics has increased in a pattern consistent with current consensus on treatment. However, despite increased use of inhaled corticosteroids, a large majority of subjects with symptomatic asthma do not use this treatment on a daily basis, particularly males and smokers with asthma