Use of anti-asthma drugs in New Zealand

Increased sales of anti-asthma drugs, and a second "epidemic" of asthma mortality, raised concerns about the management of asthma in New Zealand. To study this, prescriptions were obtained from randomly selected pharmacies to identify 235 patients receiving one common anti-asthma drug, 175 of whom were willing to be interviewed. The authors considered that 80% had asthma, and only 20% suffered primarily from chronic bronchitis or emphysema. The increased sales of anti-asthma drugs could not therefore be explained by their increasing use in treatment of other respiratory disorders. One third of the identified asthmatic subjects experienced daily symptoms despite regular drug treatment. Inhaled corticosteroids were used by only 42% of this group with persistent symptoms. Regular or short course oral corticosteroids, with or without inhaled steroids, had been required by 49%. All patients with domiciliary nebulisers appeared to use these appropriately, and most had peak expiratory flow meters. Despite the increased sales of anti-asthma drugs, corticosteroids appear to be as much underused in patients with chronic asthma in the community as in those who die of their disease.