MedWire News: The continuous use of controller medications during the summer months is associated with a reduced risk for asthma-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions in the fall, US study results show.
Writing in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Joseph Spahn (National Jewish Health, Denver, Colorado) and team explain: “Seasonal trends in asthma exacerbations are widely recognized, with peaks of hospitalizations and ED visits occurring in the fall months.”
They add that, although guidelines recommend the daily use of long-term controller medication as the most effective therapy for persistent asthma, the comparatively low frequency of asthma attacks in the summer months has lead to some clinical practices advocating a “summer holiday” from controller medications.
To investigate whether a summer holiday from controller medications influences asthma outcomes in the fall, the researchers studied US medical claims data from 2002–2006 on asthma patients in three age groups – children aged 4–11 years, adolescents aged 12–18 years, and adults aged 19–55 years.
The team specifically compared outcomes in fall between patients who filled prescriptions for fluticasone propionate plus salmeterol in a single inhaler (FSC) in the preceding summer with those who did not.
Analysis revealed that, in all age groups, patients who used FSC during the summer had a lower risk for asthma-related ED visits compared with those who had a summer holiday from FSC. Specifically, children, adolescents, and adults who used FSC during the summer were 46%, 41%, and 47%, respectively, less likely to visit the ED in the fall than those who did not.
Patients in all age groups who used FSC during the summer also had a similarly reduced risk for asthma-related hospitalization in the fall compared with those who had a summer holiday from FSC.
The use of oral corticosteroids in the fall was also lower among patients who used FSC during the summer than among those who did not.
Spahn and team conclude: “Continued use of FSC or other anti-inflammatory medications in the summer may help to prevent the predictable worsening of asthma in the fall.”
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