Breath-actuated inhaler improves asthma control
Patients using a breath-actuated inhaler have better
control of their asthma than those using a traditional metered-dose inhaler
(MDI), new research shows.
Professor David Price, department of general practice
and primary care, University of Aberdeen, and colleagues compared the
use of a breath-actuated MDI (Easi-Breathe) with using traditional MDI
devices to deliver beclomethasone in 7,412 patients, 2,038 of whom were
children. Data were obtained from the Doctors Independent Network (DIN-LINK)
database, a database of medical information for 900,000 patients from
100 general practice surgeries.
Comparisons were made between the two inhaler types
for patients receiving beclomethasone for the first time (“new patients”)
and for those who had previously been receiving beclomethasone via a traditional
MDI (“existing patients”).
The researchers found that over a 12-month period,
existing patients using a breath-actuated inhaler received 24.55 per cent
fewer prescriptions for the beta2 agonist salbutamol and 63.82 per cent
fewer prescriptions for oral steroids, as relief medication, than those
using traditional MDIs (P<0.05). They also received 55.41 per
cent fewer antibiotics for respiratory infections (P<0.05).
New patients using a breath-actuated inhaler were prescribed 58.73 per
cent fewer oral steroids (P=0.008) and 32.74 per cent fewer antibiotics
(P=0.022) than new patients using traditional MDIs. A non-significant
trend was seen for new patients prescribed salbutamol.
These findings suggest that, compared with traditional
MDI devices, using a breath-actuated MDI device to deliver beclomethasone
results in both better asthma control and less respiratory infections,
the researchers say.
Professor Price presenting the research at a press
briefing in London last week following the European Respiratory Annual
Congress, Berlin, said: “These findings may have important clinical and
cost effective implications for the choice of inhaler type in patents
with asthma.”
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