Few Adults With Moderate, Severe Asthma Receive Recommended Inhaler Regimen
By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 23, 2024 -- Only 14.5 percent of adult patients with moderate or severe asthma are prescribed the recommended Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) inhaler regimen, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2024 International Conference, held from May 17 to 22 in San Diego.
Zoe Zimmerman, from the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues used electronic medical records to identify 2,016 patients with at least one visit to a pulmonary or allergy clinic (January 2021 to August 2023), a diagnosis of asthma, and a prescription of a maintenance inhaler containing a combination corticosteroid and formoterol (ICS-LABA) inhaler or ICS alone.
The researchers found that 14.5 percent of patients were prescribed SMART (ICS-LABA for maintenance and relief therapy). Almost 90 percent of the patients prescribed SMART were also prescribed a rescue inhaler such as albuterol. Patients prescribed ICS-LABA as a baseline maintenance inhaler were more likely to be prescribed SMART. Older age and being a Medicare beneficiary were associated with not being prescribed SMART.
"Our findings suggest current asthma management guidelines are not being routinely implemented or adopted by clinicians," senior author Sandra Zaeh, M.D., also from Yale, said in a statement. "While physician education about the benefits of SMART is important, we suspect that other barriers to SMART implementation need to be addressed -- for example, insurance formulary coverage, patient education strategies to transition to SMART, and clinician support to assist with SMART adoption (i.e., assistance from a pharmacist to navigate challenges and development of clinical decision support tools)."
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted May 2024
Read this next
Antibiotic Exposure Before Age 2 May Increase Risk for Chronic Pediatric Conditions
WEDNESDAY, April 30, 2025 -- Children receiving multiple antibiotic courses between birth and age 2 years may have a higher risk for some chronic conditions, according to a study...
School-Based Asthma Therapy Boosts Asthma Control, Cuts Acute Health Care Use
THURSDAY, April 24, 2025 -- School-based asthma therapy (SBAT) can help improve children’s asthma control and decrease acute health care utilization, according to a study...
Midafternoon Dosing Improves Lung Function in Atopic Asthma
FRIDAY, April 18, 2025 -- Midafternoon dosing with beclomethasone dipropionate is associated with better clinical outcomes in mild-to-moderate atopic asthma, according to a study...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.