New Data On Asthma Costs And Utilization

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 06 Mar 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Newer, more costly controller therapies for asthma are being dispensed more frequently, but it has been difficult to say whether or not they are cost-effective. Robert S. Zeiger, MD and colleagues compared the medical costs and relative effectiveness of single asthma controller therapy with other asthma drug regimens.

The authors analyzed the 2002-2004 records of prescriptions, health care utilization and total medical costs of a group of 96,631 asthma patients in a large managed care organization. Within the limits of the retrospective cost analyses they found that total asthma-drug costs were significantly lower for patients who used a single controller inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), compared to those who used a single controller leukotriene modifiers, long-acting beta-agonists, theophylline, and most combination controller regimens.

The study, "Asthma costs and utilization in a managed care organization," can be found in the articles in press section of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) Web site, http://www.jacionline.org. The JACI is the peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).

They also found that use of a single controller ICS compared to single controller leukotriene modifiers and combination controllers was associated with significantly lower asthma-related utilization of health care services. These findings support the national asthma guidelines that recommend single controller ICS as the preferred single asthma controller treatment.

Asthma is a prevalent disease in the United States, affecting about 16 million adults and 6.5 million children. With the steady increase in the incidence of asthma during recent decades, medical costs, urgent care and hospitalizations, and work loss associated with this disease have risen to nearly $13 billion. Asthma drugs represented 43% of the $7 billion direct medical costs.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology