Pharmacy Daily | Poor asthma management

MANY Australians suffering from asthma are under treated according to a new report in the NPS’ Australian Prescriber. The comments come from Associate Professor Helen Reddel, research leader at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research who said that more than 50% of all asthmatics aged 15-34 are dispensed preventative medications only once a year. This statistic, according to Reddel indicates that “many people are not taking enough of these medicines to reduce the risk of asthma flare-ups”. Other issues with asthma management according to Reddel include the fact that most asthmatics do not use their inhalers correctly, which not only wastes their medication, but leads to poor clinical outcomes. “Deaths from asthma have dramatically fallen in recent years, so it is often perceived as a commonplace and rarely serious condition,” she said. “However, treatment of asthma in Australia is not optimal,” she added. Interestingly Reddel also said that there is a high portion of sufferers who are being “over treated” and are prescribed higher dosages of medication than what is necessary to treat their condition. “The majority of preventer prescriptions for asthma in Australian adults are for the highest potency combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta2 agonist rather than a low-dose inhaled corticosteroid which alone should be sufficient for most patients,” she said. Instead of overmedicating patients, Reddel recommends that patients have their asthma control and risk factors reviewed once or twice a year, and have their treatment adjusted if necessary. “Patients may also make short term adjustments for worsening asthma in accordance with their written action plan,” she added. See www.australianprescriber.com.

---

The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 17 Apr 12
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 17 Apr 12