TY - JOUR T1 - Changes in the use of anti-asthmatic medication in an international cohort JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J SP - 1047 LP - 1055 DO - 10.1183/09031936.05.00031905 VL - 26 IS - 6 AU - C. Janson AU - R. de Marco AU - S. Accordini AU - E. Almar AU - M. Bugiani AU - A. Carolei AU - L. Cazzoletti AU - I. Cerveri AU - A. Corsico AU - E. Duran-Tauleria AU - D. Gislason AU - A. Gulsvik AU - R. Jõgi AU - A. Marinoni AU - J. Martínez-Moratalla AU - I. Pin AU - P. Vermeire AU - D. Jarvis Y1 - 2005/12/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/26/6/1047.abstract N2 - The aim of this study was to describe changes in pharmacotherapy for asthma since the early 1990s in an international cohort of young and middle-aged adults. A total of 28 centres from 14 countries participated in a longitudinal study. The study included 8,829 subjects with a mean follow-up time of 8.7 yrs. Change in the prevalence of use for medication was expressed as absolute net change (95% confidence interval) standardised to a 10-yr period. The use of anti-asthmatics was found to have increased by 3.1% (2.4–3.7%) and the prevalence of symptomatic asthma by 4.0% (3.5–4.5%). In the sample with asthma in both surveys (n = 423), the use of inhaled corticosteroids increased by 12.2% (6.6–17.8%). Despite this, only 17.2% were using inhaled corticosteroids on a daily basis at follow-up. Females with continuous asthma were more likely, compared with males, and smokers with asthma, to have started using inhaled corticosteroids since the first survey. The use of anti-asthmatics has increased in a pattern consistent with current consensus on treatment. However, despite increased use of inhaled corticosteroids, a large majority of subjects with symptomatic asthma do not use this treatment on a daily basis, particularly males and smokers with asthma. ER -