Compliance with inhaled corticosteroid treatment: rates reported by guardians and measured by the pharmacy.
OBJECTIVE
There is elevated morbidity associated with asthma, particularly in developing countries, and failure to comply with inhaled corticosteroid treatment contributes to this morbidity. The objective of this study is to compare rates of compliance with beclomethasone treatment reported by parents or guardians with those measured by pharmacy dispensing records.


METHODS
A concurrent cohort study of 12 months' duration was carried out, enrolling 106 asthmatic children and adolescents, selected at random. Linear regression was used to compare rates of compliance reported by parents or guardians with the pharmacy dispensing records at the service, every 4 months after enrollment on the study.


RESULTS
Compliance rates reported by parents and/or guardians were always higher (p < 0.001) and exhibited a weak correlation with pharmacy records during the period studied; fourth (r = 0.37) and twelfth (r = 0.31) months of follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
The rates of compliance reported by parents were overestimated during all study periods. The compliance rates of children with asthma should also be monitored by other methods and, in this case, pharmacy records effectively revealed compliance failures. Given its low cost, this method is indicated for verification of these compliance rates.
Lasmar
Laura M L B F
LM
Disciplina de Pneumologia Pediátrica, Departamento de Pediatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
Camargos
Paulo A M
PA
Costa
Leila F
LF
Fonseca
Maria Teresa M
MT
Fontes
Maria Jussara F
MJ
Ibiapina
Cassio C
CC
Alvim
Cristina G
CG
Moura
José A R
JA
Goulart
Eugenio M A
EM
Sakurai
Emilia
E
D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001507:Beclomethasone / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003157:Community Pharmacy Services; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007872:Legal Guardians; D008297:Male; D009330:Nebulizers and Vaporizers; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents; D001507:Beclomethasone