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Asthma Medication Prescribing Practices in Pediatric Office Visits
Sanika Rege1, Abhishek Kavati2, Benjamin Ortiz2
11 Department of Pharmaceutical Health Outcomes and Policy, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, TX, USA.
Insights
Asthma control impacts medication choices in children. Uncontrolled asthma and lack of documented control correlate with specific asthma medication use, like oral and inhaled corticosteroids, in pediatric visits.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Pulmonology
- Health Services Research
- Clinical Pharmacy
Background:
- Asthma is a prevalent chronic respiratory disease in children.
- Understanding medication prescribing patterns is crucial for effective asthma management.
- Variations in asthma medication use exist based on patient and clinical factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between asthma control, demographics, and clinical characteristics with asthma medication use in US pediatric office visits.
- To identify factors influencing prescribing practices for asthma medications in children.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study utilizing data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (2012-2015).
- Included pediatric patients (6-17 years) with asthma as a primary diagnosis.
- Employed descriptive weighted analysis and multivariable logistic regression to examine medication use and prescribing practices.
Main Results:
- An estimated 2.5 million pediatric asthma visits occurred annually.
- Asthma medication use varied significantly based on clinical and demographic factors.
- Lack of documented asthma control and uncontrolled asthma were linked to oral corticosteroid (OCS) and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use, but not overall medication use.
Conclusions:
- Asthma control status is a significant factor in the prescription of specific asthma medications, particularly OCS and ICS, in pediatric patients.
- Demographic and clinical characteristics influence asthma medication prescribing patterns.
- Further research may explore interventions to improve asthma control documentation and guideline-adherent prescribing.
Abstract:
This cross-sectional study examined how asthma control, demographic, and clinical characteristics are associated with the use of asthma medications in pediatric office visits in the United States. Data from the 2012-2015 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey included patients aged 6 to 17 years, with asthma as a primary diagnosis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, code 493.xx). Descriptive weighted analysis evaluated asthma medication use. Multivariable logistic regression examined characteristics associated with asthma prescribing practices. An estimated 2.5 million pediatric office visits were made annually for asthma. The majority of asthma visits involved males (59.3%), children aged 6 to 11 years (54.8%), and whites (73.6%). Several clinical and demographic characteristics contributed to the variations in overall asthma medication use as well as specific drug classes. Lack of documentation of asthma control and uncontrolled asthma were associated with oral corticosteroid and inhaled corticosteroid use in pediatric asthma patients, but not with overall asthma medication use.
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