Compliance with maintenance treatment of asthma (ADERE study).
OBJECTIVE
To determine the rate of compliance with preventive treatment of moderate and severe persistent asthma.


METHODS
Physicians at various medical centers across the country were invited to nominate patients for participation in the study. Inclusion criteria were being over the age of 12 and presenting moderate or severe persistent asthma. Participating patients received salmeterol/fluticasone 50/250 microg by dry powder inhaler for 90 days and were instructed to return the empty packages at the end of the study as a means of determining the total quantity used. In order to evaluate compliance, a member of the research team contacted each patient via telephone at the study outset and again at the end of the 90-day study period. Asthma patients were considered compliant with the treatment if they used at least 85% of the prescribed dose. The following variables were studied: gender, age, race, marital status, years of schooling, smoking habits, other atopic conditions, comorbidities, asthma severity, use of other medication and number of hospital admissions for asthma.


RESULTS
A total of 131 patients from fifteen states were included. The overall rate of compliance was found to be 51.9%. There was a significant difference in compliance in relation to asthma severity: compliance was greater among patients with severe persistent asthma than among those with moderate persistent asthma (p = 0.02). There were no statistically significant differences among any of the other variables.


CONCLUSIONS
The overall rate of compliance with maintenance treatment of asthma was low.
Chatkin
José Miguel
JM
Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, School of Medicine, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. jmchatkin@pucrs.br
Cavalet-Blanco
Daniela
D
Scaglia
Nóris Coimbra
NC
Tonietto
Roberto Guidotti
RG
Wagner
Mário B
MB
Fritscher
Carlos Cezar
CC
D000328:Adult; D000420:Albuterol / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000730:Androstadienes / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004338:Drug Combinations; D005260:Female; D000068298:Fluticasone; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D000068299:Salmeterol Xinafoate; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D000730:Androstadienes; D001993:Bronchodilator Agents; D004338:Drug Combinations; D000068299:Salmeterol Xinafoate; D000068298:Fluticasone; D000420:Albuterol