Short-acting β2-agonist prescription patterns in patients with asthma in the Philippines: Results from SABINA III
https://doi.org/10.47895/amp.vi0.4816
- Author:
Dina V. Diaz
1
;
Leilanie A. Nicodemus
2
;
Evangeline L. Parena-Santiago
3
;
Marie Elaine V. Capalla
4
;
Ronnie Z. Samoro
5
;
Bryna Kimberly Bayate-Jabines
6
;
Jessie F. Orcasitas
7
;
Miranila Hernandez-Matibag
8
;
Ronnel S. Matibag
9
;
Janet C. Bernardo
10
;
Erica Frances H. Garcia
11
;
Maarten JHI Beekman
12
Author Information
1. Lung Center of the Philippines, Metro Manila, Philippines
2. Family Medicine Clinic, Philippine General Hospital FMAB QualiMed Surgery Center, Metro Manila, Philippines
3. Batangas Medical Center, Batangas City, Philippines
4. West Visayas State University Medical Center, Iloilo City, Philippines
5. HealthLink (Iloilo) Inc., Iloilo City, Philippines
6. Western Visayas Medical Center, Iloilo City, Philippines
7. Metro Davao Medical and Research Center, Inc., Davao City, Philippines
8. The Medical City, Metro Manila, Philippines
9. MandR Santos Clinic, Taguig City, Philippines
10. Davao Doctors Hospital, Davao City, Philippines
11. AstraZeneca, Manila, Philippines
12. AstraZeneca, The Hague, Netherlands
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH:
Asthma;
Bronchodilator Agents;
Philippines;
Prescriptions
- From:
Acta Medica Philippina
2023;57(11):12-24
- CountryPhilippines
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Objectives:As asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, anti-inflammatory treatment should be positioned at the forefront of guideline-directed asthma care. However, patients tend to rely on short-acting β2-agonists (SABAs) for rapid-onset symptom relief. The impact of SABA overuse and associated clinical outcomes have been investigated extensively in Europe and North America. Limited data are available from countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. The SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III program, a large multicountry, observational study, was undertaken to describe the global extent of SABA use and its potential contribution to suboptimal disease control. As part of the SABINA III study, we aimed to characterize SABA prescription collection and asthma-related clinical outcomes among patients in the Philippines.
Methods:This nationwide, observational, cross-sectional, SABINA III study included patients (aged ≥12 years) with a documented asthma diagnosis recruited between May 2019 and January 2020 from 10 sites in the Philippines. Demographics, disease characteristics and prescribed asthma treatments, including SABA and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in the 12 months preceding study start, were recorded during a single visit, and transcribed onto an electronic case report form (eCRF). Patients were classified by investigator-defined asthma severity, guided by the 2017 Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) report and practice type, either primary or pulmonary medicine specialist care.
Results:Of 245 patients analyzed, 63.3% were classified as having moderate-to-severe asthma (GINA steps 3−5), and most patients (63.3%) were enrolled by pulmonary medicine specialists. Overall, 33.1% (n=81) of patients had experienced ≥1 severe exacerbation in the previous 12 months and 18.4% (n=45) of patients had uncontrolled asthma. With respect to asthma treatments, a total of 6.5% (n=16), 40.4% (n=99), and 2.4% (n=6) of patients were prescribed SABA monotherapy, SABA in addition to maintenance therapy, and ICS, respectively, in the 12 months prior to their study visit. Most patients (n=156 [63.7%]) received prescriptions of fixed-dose combina-tions of ICS and long-acting β2-agonists. SABA over-prescription, defined as ≥3 SABA canister prescriptions per year, was observed in 10.6% (n=21) of patients. Additionally, 25.6% (n=23) of patients classified as having mild asthma were prescribed either nebulized SABA (n=17) or oral SABA (n=6). Nearly one-third of patients (n=75 [30.6%]) had purchased over-the-counter (OTC) SABA, and 46.9% (n=115) were prescribed antibiotics.
Conclusions:In this SABINA III Philippines study cohort, more than 10% of patients were over-prescribed SABA canisters. Additionally, prescriptions for oral or nebulized SABA, the purchase of non-prescription (OTC) SABA, and the high percentage of prescriptions for antibiotics warrant country-wide improvements in asthma care and management.
- Full text:4816-Article Text-133672-1-10-20231121.pdf
