PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Carin Jorup AU - Dan Lythgoe AU - Hans Bisgaard TI - Budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy in adolescent patients with asthma AID - 10.1183/13993003.01688-2017 DP - 2018 Jan 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - 1701688 VI - 51 IP - 1 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/51/1/1701688.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/51/1/1701688.full SO - Eur Respir J2018 Jan 01; 51 AB - Asthma control is often suboptimal in adolescents, but few studies have evaluated asthma treatments in this population.This post hoc analysis assessed the efficacy and safety of budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FORM) maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) for treatment of persistent asthma in adolescent (age 12–17 years) subgroups within six randomised, double-blind trials. The primary end-point was time to first severe exacerbation. Secondary end-points included number of severe exacerbations, asthma-related symptoms, night-time awakenings, morning peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory volume in 1 s, as-needed medication use and five-item asthma control questionnaire scores.In adolescents (n=1847), BUD/FORM MART was similar to or more effective than comparators across each of the studies in reducing the risk of a first severe exacerbation (hazard ratios (HR) BUD/FORM MART versus comparators 0.15–1.01; pooled HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.34–0.70), with comparable outcomes to the adult subgroups (n=12 197). Similar treatment benefits for BUD/FORM MART were observed for secondary end-points. As-needed medication use was lower with BUD/FORM MART than comparators, and BUD/FORM as-needed use was lower in adolescents than adults. Treatment was well tolerated.This analysis supports the use of BUD/FORM MART in adolescents with persistent asthma, its efficacy and safety being consistent with that reported for adults.The efficacy/safety of BUD/FORM MART in adolescents with persistent asthma is consistent with that reported in adults http://ow.ly/UYLv30fGDPF