RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 An overview of patient adherence to asthma medication in Canada
JF European Respiratory Journal
JO Eur Respir J
FD European Respiratory Society
SP P956
VO 42
IS Suppl 57
A1 Tam Dang-Tan
A1 Afisi Ismaila
A1 Amyn Sayani
A1 Mihaela Marin
A1 Zhen Su
YR 2013
UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/42/Suppl_57/P956.abstract
AB Introduction: Despite national management guidelines and advances in treatment, many asthma patients remain uncontrolled in Canada. Patient adherence is known to be a key contributor to effective asthma management.Objective: To assess patterns of asthma medication adherence in CanadaMethods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase and EMCare to identify published English literature from 2000 to 2011 related to patient adherence to asthma medication in Canada. Titles and abstracts were screened by 2 independent reviewers in a 2-step process to select articles that met the inclusion criteria. Study quality was assessed using methodological checklists, and data abstracted to form the basis of the review.Results: 7 of 270 studies identified met selection criteria and were included in this review: 4 cohorts, 1 cross-sectional, 1 RCT, and 1 qualitative study. Different methods of measuring medication adherence such as persistence rates and mean proportion of prescription days were presented. The review found that adults took 72% of their inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) prescriptions. The data also showed that only 13% and 11% of patients were still using ICS and long-acting b-agonists (LABA), respectively, 1 year after therapy initiation. Overall ICS adherence in children aged 5-16, from 1997 to 2002, was shown to be 62.4% and decreased to 36.8% in children with ≥7 prescriptions. Predictors of increased adherence included: increasing age and use of fixed-dose combinations. Presence of oropharyngeal symptoms decreased compliance.Conclusions: Despite differences in measurement of adherence, all 7 studies consistently found inadequate adherence of asthma medication among all patient groups in Canada.