Tuberc Respir Dis.
2022 Jan;85(1):11-17. 10.4046/trd.2021.0087.
Does the Use of Asthma-Controller Medication in Accordance with Guidelines Reduce the Incidence of Acute Exacerbations and Healthcare Costs?
- Affiliations
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- 1Institute of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Medical Research Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 3Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA
- 4Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 5Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 6Department of Internal Medicine, Konkuk University School of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- KMID: 2523539
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.4046/trd.2021.0087
Abstract
- Background
In asthma, consistent control of chronic airway inflammation is crucial, and the use of asthma-controller medication has been emphasized. Our purpose in this study is to compare the incidence of acute exacerbation and healthcare costs related to the use of asthma-controller medication.
Methods
By using data collected by the National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, we compared one-year clinical outcomes and medical costs from July 2014 to June 2015 (follow-up period) between two groups of patients with asthma who received different prescriptions for recommended asthma-controller medication (inhaled corticosteroids or leukotriene receptor antagonists) at least once from July 2013 to June 2014 (assessment period).
Results
There were 51,757 patients who satisfied our inclusion criteria. Among them, 13,702 patients (26.5%) were prescribed a recommended asthma-controller medication during the assessment period. In patients using a recommended asthma-controller medication, the frequency of acute exacerbations decreased in the follow-up period, from 2.7% to 1.1%. The total medical costs of the controller group decreased during the follow-up period compared to the assessment period, from $3,772,692 to $1,985,475. Only 50.9% of patients in the controller group used healthcare services in the follow-up period, and the use of asthma-controller medication decreased in the follow-up period.
Conclusion
Overall, patients using a recommended asthma-controller medication showed decreased acute exacerbation and reduced total healthcare cost by half.
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