TY - JOUR T1 - Poor adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in childhood asthma: Don't blame (only) the patient JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p4818 AU - Ted Klok AU - Adrian Kaptein AU - Eric Duiverman AU - Paul Brand Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p4818.abstract N2 - Introduction: In population studies, the adherence to inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment in asthma is usually poor. We previously showed high adherence to ICS in our paediatric asthma clinic, and this was related to parental illness and medication beliefs. The aim of the present study was to measure adherence and its determinants in children with asthma in primary care.Methods: Children aged 2-6 yrs, who received a prescription for (ICS) by their general practitioner in the past year and who were still using ICS at the time of inclusion, were followed up for 3 months, during which adherence to ICS therapy was measured electronically by Smartinhaler®.Results: 106 children (mean age 4.3 yrs) had had an ICS prescription over the past year. Parents of 95 children could be reached by telephone, 82 of whom were willing to provide information about current ICS use and symptoms of their child. 30 patients (36%) used ICS intermittently during symptomatic episodes, 24 (29%) patients used ICS for non-specific respiratory symptoms such as cough or for intermittent symptoms such as an isolated wheeze episode. 28 children (35%) were using ICS regularly, 21 of whom consented to electronic adherence measurement for 3 months. In these 21 patients, median adherence was 81% [range 34-97%] of prescribed dosages.Conclusion: The low adherence to ICS in population studies of children with asthma may be partly explained by inappropriate prescription of ICS to children with intermittent episodes of wheeze, and non-specific respiratory symptoms such as cough. High adherence to ICS treatment was found in those patients who received ICS therapy in accordance with international asthma guidelines. ER -