Abstract
Despite evidence that adverse outcomes are less frequent when asthma management is optimised, the link between the level of control, disease severity and medical resource utilisation (MRU) is poorly documented. This relationship was investigated in a group of patients suffering from persistent asthma (Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) ≥2) in France.
In 1998 a computerised family practice database was used to identify asthma patients aged 17–50 yrs. Information from the database was complemented by a patient survey to retrospectively assess the level of asthma control and hospital contacts. Costs of MRU over a 12month study period were related to demographics, medical history, asthma control, and doses of inhaled corticosteroids prescribed during the prestudy period.
A review of the computerised medical database identified 1,038 adult patients with persistent asthma, who completed the survey questionnaire. Over a 12month period, the mean cost of MRU was 549.8 E for wellcontrolled patients, 746.3 E per patient with moderate control, and 1,451.3 E per patient with poor control. Costs also increased significantly with age, access to free asthma care, comorbid conditions, asthma symptoms in the past year and whether inhaled corticosteroids had been prescribed before the study period.
In patients with persistent asthma, large differences were observed in the use of medical resources according to control and severity. Therefore, if patients appropriately use prescribed control therapy, their use of medical resources may be reduced.
The Pharmacoepidemiology Unit is part of the EA643 (ClaudeBernard University, Lyon, France) and of the Poison Centre (E. Herriot Hospital, Lyon, France). The study was supported by the Biomed grant Nr BMH4 CT965033 and by Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA.
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