PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Christer Janson
AU  - Simone Accordini
AU  - Lucia Cazzoletti
AU  - Isa Cerveri
AU  - Sebastien Chanoine
AU  - Angelo Corsico
AU  - Diogenes Seraphim Ferreira
AU  - Judith Garcia-Aymerich
AU  - David Gislason
AU  - Rune Nielsen
AU  - Ane Johannessen
AU  - Rain Jogi
AU  - Andrei Malinovschi
AU  - Jesús Martinez-Moratalla Rovira
AU  - Alessandro Marcon
AU  - Isabelle Pin
AU  - Jennifer Quint
AU  - Valerie Siroux
AU  - Enrique Almar
AU  - Valeria Bellisario
AU  - Karl A. Franklin
AU  - José A. Gullón
AU  - Mathias Holm
AU  - Joachim Heinrich
AU  - Dennis Nowak
AU  - José Luis Sánchez-Ramos
AU  - Joost J. Weyler
AU  - Deborah Jarvis
TI  - Pharmacological treatment of asthma in a cohort of adults during a 20-year period: results from the European Community Respiratory Health Survey I, II and III
AID  - 10.1183/23120541.00073-2018
DP  - 2019 Feb 01
TA  - ERJ Open Research
PG  - 00073-2018
VI  - 5
IP  - 1
4099  - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/5/1/00073-2018.short
4100  - http://openres.ersjournals.com/content/5/1/00073-2018.full
SO  - erjor2019 Feb 01; 5
AB  - Asthma often remains uncontrolled, despite the fact that the pharmacological treatment has undergone large changes. We studied changes in the treatment of asthma over a 20-year period and identified factors associated with the regular use of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) treatment.Changes in the use of medication were determined in 4617 randomly selected subjects, while changes in adults with persistent asthma were analysed in 369 participants. The study compares data from three surveys in 24 centres in 11 countries.The use of ICSs increased from 1.7% to 5.9% in the general population and the regular use of ICSs increased from 19% to 34% among persistent asthmatic subjects. The proportion of asthmatic subjects reporting asthma attacks in the last 12 months decreased, while the proportion that had seen a doctor in the last 12 months remained unchanged (42%). Subjects with asthma who had experienced attacks or had seen a doctor were more likely to use ICSs on a regular basis.Although ICS use has increased, only one-third of subjects with persistent asthma take ICSs on a regular basis. Less than half had seen a doctor during the last year. This indicates that underuse of ICSs and lack of regular healthcare contacts remains a problem in the management of asthma.Despite increased ICS use, only 34% of subjects with persistent asthma take ICSs on a regular basis; <50% have seen a doctor in the last year. Underuse of ICSs and lack of regular healthcare contacts remains a problem in asthma. http://ow.ly/GUZ630mZkVN