title: Budesonide/formoterol maintenance and reliever therapy versus free-combination therapy for asthma: a real-life study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This non-interventional real-life study (NCT00884689) compared budesonide/formoterol (Symbicort®) maintenance and reliever therapy (SMART™) with a free combination of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) + long-acting β2-agonist (LABA) (in separate inhalers) and as-needed short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) in adult asthma patients with an exacerbation in the past 24 months.
  
  
  METHODS
  Asthma patients received SMART™ or free-combination ICS + LABA and as-needed SABA for 6 months. Allocation of patients and doses prescribed were at physician's discretion. No other restrictions applied. Primary endpoint: mean no. of rescue medication puffs/day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  482 patients were included (SMART™ n = 310; free combination n = 172). SMART™ patients used less rescue medication vs the free-combination group (mean difference - 0.27 puffs/day; p = 0.013). Severe asthma exacerbations were rare (mean rate 0.20 vs 0.17/year for SMART™ vs free combination). The mean ICS dose was 615 µg in SMART™ and 678 µg in free-combination group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this real-life setting, SMART™-treated patients used less rescue medication despite a lower ICS burden vs conventional asthma management with three different inhalers.
authors.affiliation: Group Practice and Centre for Pneumology, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at Red Cross Maingau Hospital, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kardos
mesh_terms: D000280:Administration, Inhalation; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001386:Azides / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D019819:Budesonide / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000379:methods; D004983:Ethanolamines / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D000068759:Formoterol Fumarate; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012646:Self Administration; D012701:Serotonin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents; D001386:Azides; D004983:Ethanolamines; D012701:Serotonin; D019819:Budesonide; C046122:3-(2-(4-azidobenzamidino)ethyl)-5-hydroxyindole; D000068759:Formoterol Fumarate