title: The misuse of asthma drugs.
abstract: There are three major problems with asthma care in the USA and misuse of asthma drug therapy contributes to each. Asthma patients suffer from symptoms regularly partly because healthcare providers do not understand the Expert Panel Report III (EPR3) recommendations on assessing asthma symptoms to determine drug treatment and, consequently, undertreat the disease. Asthma patients experience exacerbations often in part because the EPR3 provides limited guidance on using exacerbation risk to guide asthma treatment, again leading to undertreatment. The EPR3 recommends inhaled corticosteroids as the preferred therapy for mild persistent asthma but American healthcare providers disregard this recommendation based on different perceptions about the risks and benefits of inhaled corticosteroids and choose drug treatments with higher healthcare costs.
authors.affiliation: The George Washington University School of Medicine, Director, Pulmonary, Critical Care and Respiratory Services, Washington Hospital Center, 110 Irving St., NW, Washington, DC 20010, USA. gene.colice@medstar.net
authors.forename: Gene L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Colice
mesh_terms: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics / Q000503:physiopathology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D018450:Disease Progression; D016527:Drug Costs; D004363:Drug Utilization; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D057970:Inappropriate Prescribing / Q000191:economics; D008168:Lung / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018579:Patient Selection; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents