title: Medicine use and disease control among adolescents with asthma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pharmacological treatment is a cornerstone in asthma management, but there is limited evidence on how adolescents use their medication and to what extent their asthma is under control. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare self-reported and register-based medicine use in asthmatic adolescents. Furthermore, we investigated the association between medicine use, patient characteristics, and degree of asthma control.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analyses of 331 adolescents with asthma from a population-based birth cohort linked to data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Adolescents' asthma medicine use was assessed with three approaches: self-reported medicine use, self-reported use of someone else's medicines, and dispensed medicines from pharmacies during an 18-month period. Medicine use in adolescents with and without asthma control were compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 82% reported use of asthma medicines, 10 % reported use of someone else's medicines, and 62% were dispensed asthma medicines from pharmacies. Among adolescents with self-reported medicine use, 22% (n = 60) were neither dispensed medicines nor using someone else's medicines. The majority of those using someone else's medicines had also been dispensed asthma medicine (22 out of 33). Among adolescents with asthma, 176 were fully controlled and 155 were uncontrolled. Also, boys had higher odds of having asthma control than girls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most adolescents with asthma reported use of asthma medicines, but a considerable proportion were neither dispensed any medicines nor using someone else's medicines. Girls were less likely to achieve asthma control. It is important to combine data sources to understand medicine use among adolescents with asthma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Clinical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. elin.dahlen@sll.se.|Department of Healthcare Development, Stockholm County Council, Public Healthcare Services Committee, Stockholm, Sweden. elin.dahlen@sll.se.
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dahlén
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Clinical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Healthcare Development, Stockholm County Council, Public Healthcare Services Committee, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wettermark
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bergström
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine Solna, Clinical Epidemiology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.|Centre for Allergy Research, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Eva Wikström
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Lung and Allergy Unit, Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Almqvist
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Science and Education, Södersjukhuset, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|Sachs' Children and Youth Hospital, Södersjukhuset, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Inger
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kull
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001249:Asthma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D057566:Self Report; D013548:Sweden; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents
keywords: Adolescents; Asthma; Drug utilization; Pharmacoepidemiology; Questionnaire; Register