Thorax 1998;53:1025-1029 ( December )

First treatment with inhaled corticosteroids and the prevention of admissions to hospital for asthma

Lucie Blais, Samy Suissa, Jean-François Boivin, Pierre Ernst

Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Royal Victoria Hospital, Department of Medicine, Jewish General Hospital, Department of Medicine, Montreal General Hospital, and Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Correspondence to: Dr L Blais, Centre de recherche du CHUM, Campus Hôtel-Dieu, 3850 Saint-Urbain, Room 8-223, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2W 1T8.

Received 1 May 1998; Returned to authors 16 June 1998; Revised version received 13 July 1998; Accepted for publication 15 July 1998

BACKGROUNDEarly treatment with inhaled corticosteroids appears to improve clinical symptoms in asthma. Whether a first treatment initiated in the year following the recognition of asthma can prevent major outcomes such as admission to hospital has yet to be studied.
METHODSA case-control study nested within a cohort of 13 563 newly treated asthmatic subjects selected from the databases of Saskatchewan Health (1977-1993) was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of a first treatment with inhaled corticosteroids in preventing admissions to hospital for asthma. Study subjects were aged between five and 44 years at cohort entry. First time users of inhaled corticosteroids were compared with first time users of theophylline for a maximum of 12 months of treatment. The two treatments under study were further classified into initial and subsequent therapy to minimise selection bias and confounding by indication. Odds ratios associated with hospital admissions for asthma were estimated using conditional logistic regression. Markers of asthma severity, as well as age and sex, were considered as potential confounders.
RESULTSThree hundred and three patients admitted to hospital with asthma were identified and 2636 matched controls were selected. Subjects initially treated with regular inhaled corticosteroids were 40% less likely to be admitted to hospital for asthma than regular users of theophylline (odds ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.4 to 1.0). The odds ratio decreased to 0.2 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.5) when inhaled corticosteroids and theophylline were given subsequently.
CONCLUSIONThe first regular treatment with inhaled corticosteroids initiated in the year following the recognition of asthma can reduce the risk of admission to hospital for asthma by up to 80% compared with regular treatment with theophylline. This is probably due, at least in part, to reducing the likelihood of a worsening in the severity of asthma.

Keywords: inhaled corticosteroids; asthma; hospital admission

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© 1998 by Thorax
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