Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 19, 2026
07:28
Dry Powder and Nebulized Aerosol Inhalation of Pharmaceuticals Delivered to Mice Using a Nose-only Exposure System
Published on: April 6, 2017
Pharmacy fill patterns in young urban children with persistent asthma
Kim Mudd1, Mary Elizabeth Bollinger, Van Doren Hsu
1Division of Pediatric Allergy/Immunology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. Kmudd2@jhmi.edu
Summary
This study found that children with persistent asthma often had low medication adherence, indicated by poor prescription fill rates for both rescue and controller medications, leading to increased healthcare utilization.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Health Services Research
- Pharmacoeconomics
Background:
- Medication adherence is a critical determinant of healthcare utilization patterns.
- Pharmacy records offer a valuable tool for assessing medication fill patterns and adherence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate medication fill patterns in children with persistent asthma.
- To compare these patterns with healthcare utilization data.
Main Methods:
- Pharmacy records were analyzed for 175 children diagnosed with persistent asthma.
- Healthcare utilization metrics were collected and compared against medication fill data.
Main Results:
- A significant proportion of subjects exhibited high healthcare utilization.
- Low fill rates were observed for both rescue and controller asthma medications.
- Increased use of rescue medications correlated with higher healthcare utilization and controller medication use.
Conclusions:
- Pharmacy fill data revealed suboptimal adherence to both rescue and controller asthma medications.
- Higher rescue medication use was associated with increased healthcare utilization, even when controller medications were prescribed.
Related Concept Videos
01:30Asthma-IV: Diagnostic and Management
The diagnosis and management of asthma are comprehensive, encompassing clinical assessments, lung function tests, and pharmacological interventions. Here's an overview:
Clinical Assessment for Asthma:
This is the first step in diagnosing and managing asthma. It includes:
Clinical Assessment for Asthma:
This is the first step in diagnosing and managing asthma. It includes:
01:26Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion
In pediatric medicine, understanding the renal function and drug elimination nuances is crucial for administering safe and effective treatments. Newborns, in particular, display markedly slower renal functions than adults, profoundly affecting how drugs are cleared from their bodies. This slower drug clearance requires clinicians to extend the dosing intervals for many medications to prevent drug accumulation and toxicity while ensuring therapeutic efficacy.One key area where these adjustments...
01:23Inhaled Medications
Inhaled medications are crucial for managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. They are essential for effective treatment and control, ensuring optimal respiratory health and well-being. Inhaled medication delivers drugs directly to the lungs, providing a rapid onset of action and reducing systemic side effects compared to oral or injectable medications. Three primary types of inhalation devices are used to administer these medications: nebulizers, metered-dose inhalers...
01:17Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution
Drug distribution in the pediatric population exhibits unique challenges and considerations due to the physiological differences between children, particularly neonates and infants, and adults. A crucial aspect of pediatric pharmacology is understanding how these differences impact the pharmacokinetics of various drugs, necessitating age-specific dosing strategies to ensure efficacy and safety.Neonates and infants have a higher total body water content, ~75%–90% of their body weight, compared...
01:23Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption
Understanding the physiological differences in the pediatric population is crucial for effective pharmacotherapy. Neonates, infants, and children exhibit significant variations in gastric pH, gastric emptying time, intestinal transit time, and biliary function. These variations profoundly affect oral drug absorption, necessitating a nuanced approach to pediatric dosing.Neonates present with a unique physiological profile, having a gastric pH greater than 4 and faster and more irregular gastric...
01:29Drug Dosing: Infants and Children
Pediatric patient dosages diverge from adults due to disparities in body surface area, total body water, and extracellular fluid per kilogram of body weight. The dosing regimen considers the variations in pharmacokinetics and pharmacology across distinct age groups, encompassing preterm newborns, infants, young children, older children, and adolescents. Calculation of pediatric patient doses is predicated on determining body surface area, which exhibits a superior correlation with the child's...