Long-acting β-agonist prescribing in people with asthma in primary care
- PMID: 22942016
- DOI: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202071
Long-acting β-agonist prescribing in people with asthma in primary care
Abstract
Long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) monotherapy is contraindicated in asthma following reports of serious adverse events. Anonymised Scottish health data were used to determine the prevalence of LABA prescribing and LABA monotherapy (sustained and episodic) in asthma during 2006. Of 73 486 asthma patients identified, 5592 (7.6%; 95% CI 7.4% to 7.8%) were prescribed LABAs as a separate inhaler of which 991 patients had LABA monotherapy (17.7% (95% CI 16.7% to 18.7%) of patients at risk). Asthma reviews were associated with reductions in sustained (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.32 to 0.61) but not episodic monotherapy (OR 1.16; 95% CI 0.85 to 1.57). These findings support recent changes in UK asthma guidelines recommending LABAs in fixed-dose combination inhalers.
Comment in
-
Restriction of LABA use to combination ICS/LABA inhaler therapy in asthma.Thorax. 2013 Feb;68(2):119-20. doi: 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-202483. Epub 2012 Nov 13. Thorax. 2013. PMID: 23149344 No abstract available.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical