title: Preventive asthma medication discontinuation among children enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Local-area studies demonstrate that preventive asthma medication discontinuation among Medicaid and Children's-Health-Insurance-Program (CHIP) enrolled children leads to adverse outcomes. We assessed time-to-discontinuation for preventive asthma medication and its risk factors among fee-for-service Medicaid/CHIP child beneficiaries.
  
  
  METHODS
  National-Health-Interview-Survey participants (1997-2005) with ≥1 Medicaid- or CHIP-paid claims when 2-17 years old (n = 4262) were linked to Medicaid-Analytic-eXtract claims (1999-2008). Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards models to assess time-to-discontinuation (i.e. failing to refill prescriptions <30 d after previous supplies ran out) included demographic factors and medication regimen (inhaled corticosteroids [ICS], long-acting β2-agonists, leukotriene modifiers, mast cell stabilizers, and monoclonal antibodies).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-three percent discontinued preventive asthma medications by 90 d after the first prescription. Adolescents and toddlers had slightly higher hazards of discontinuation (adjusted hazard ratios [aHR], 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05-1.23; and 1.12; 1.03-1.21, respectively) versus 5-11-year-olds, as did Hispanics (aHR, 1.24; 1.13-1.35) and non-Hispanic blacks (aHR, 1.17; 1.07-1.28) versus non-Hispanic whites, children in households with one adult and ≥3 children (aHR, 1.17; 1.05-1.30) versus multiple adults and ≤2 children, and children with caregivers' educational-attainment ≤12th grade (aHR, 1.11; 1.02-1.20) versus caregivers with some college. Compared to regimens including both ICS and leukotriene modifiers, discontinuation was greater for those on ICS without leukotriene modifiers or on other preventive asthma medications (aHR, 1.67; 1.56-1.80; and 2.23; 1.78-2.80, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More than 60% of children enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid/CHIP discontinued preventive asthma medications by 90 d. Risk was increased for minorities and children from disadvantaged households. Understanding these factors may inform future pediatric asthma guidelines.
authors.affiliation: Infant, Child & Women's Health Statistics Branch (ICWHSB), Office of Analysis & Epidemiology (OAE), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) , Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Hyattsville, MD , USA and.
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Capo-Ramos
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duran
authors.forename: Alan E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Simon
authors.forename: Lara J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Akinbami
authors.forename: Kenneth C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Schoendorf
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016903:Drug Monitoring
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents
keywords: Asthma control; children’s health insurance program; inhaled corticosteroids; medication persistence; patient adherence; patient compliance; preventive medicine