title: [The use of long-term steroid therapy in rural practice].
abstract: About 25% of steroid-dependent asthmatic patients are treated repeatedly with intramuscular depot corticosteroids by their family doctors. The results of a questionnaire circulated amongst general practitioners in a rural area of Switzerland revealed that 57% of these doctors occasionally or habitually prescribe depot corticosteroids to patients with severe asthma. Only a small percentage of general practitioners realize that depot corticosteroids arrest adrenal function for several days or weeks. The long-term ineffectiveness of depot corticosteroids against asthma and their increased side effects are not universally known.
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000309:Adrenal Insufficiency / Q000139:chemically induced; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D006801:Humans; D012424:Rural Population
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations
vernacular_title: Anwendungsart der Steroid-Langzeitbehandlung in der Landpraxis.