Call for more training on rational asthma prescribing
Prescribers need further education about rational prescribing for children with asthma, say researchers.
Data from the NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care for 2000–06
indicate overuse of oral beta-agonists and
inhaled long-acting beta-agonist/steroid combination preparations, they
say.
The percentage of steroid inhalers
prescribed for children in the community as combination inhalers with
long-acting
beta-agonists increased from 2.6 per cent in 2000 to 20.6 per cent in
2006. This deviates from British Thoracic Society guidelines, which recommend
that combination inhalers should only be used by patients whose asthma
is not controlled with inhaled steroids alone.
The researchers say that, although it was not possible to establish which
of these were repeat prescriptions, it is likely that the rapid increase
in prescribing demonstrates a disproportionate use of these medicines.
Use of bronchodilator syrups decreased by 60 per cent over the past six
years, but they are still steadily prescribed, say the researchers, with
121,000 prescriptions being written in 2006, despite BTS guidelines pointing
out that the inhaled route is preferable.
The researchers say that these changes are not due to a change in demographics
and are unlikely to be due to an increase in asthma prevalence.
However, they acknowledge that obtaining accurate prescribing data is
a challenge and there is a need to gather information stratified by age.
The study was published
online in Archives of Disease in Childhood on
4 September 2007.
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