Evaluation of corticophobia in asthmatic patients

Inhaler corticosteroids (ICS) are the most commonly used antiinflammatory drugs in the treatment of asthma. Although systemic adverse effects are minimal, patients hesitate to use ICS for a long time because of corticophobia. There is no study evaluating corticophobia via Likert-type appendix among the asthmatic patients.

In this study, it was aimed to evaluate the fears and beliefs about ICS in asthmatic patients.

Between December 2017 and January 2018, 150 stable asthmatic patients were included in the study. Demographic data (age, education, smoking history, etc.) and asthma-related data (pulmonary function test, drug use) were recorded. The appendix of TOPICOP study applied to the patients with asthma which was composed of 10 questions (five questions about fear of ICS and five questions about beliefs of ICS).

The rate of ICS maintain in stable asthmatic patients was found to be 66.6%. According to the survey results, 68% of the patients believed that ICS may lead to weight gain, 52% believed that ICS may lead to infection, 73% believed that ICS may pass into bloodstream, and 67.3% believed that ICS may damage the lungs. It was also found that 90.7% needed to be informed about ICS and 67.3% wanted to cut the ICS drug as soon as possible.

We found that treatment adherence may increase, if physicians allocate more time to asthma patients to inform about ICS beneficial effects at the initiating of ICS treatment and control visits.