Last Updated: 2001-07-06 8:00:33 EDT (Reuters Health)
In a previous study, once-daily administration of the preparation, produced by drugmaker AstraZeneca under the trade name Pulmicort Turbuhaler, appeared to be as effective as twice-daily administration, researchers note in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology for June. The current study was performed to determine if once-daily therapy provided adequate asthma control in children previously maintained on ICS.
Dr. Gail G. Shapiro, from Asthma, Inc. in Seattle, and colleagues randomized 274 asthmatic children, aged 6 to 17 years, previously treated with ICS, to receive a 12-week course of once-daily budesonide at a dose of 200 µg or 400 µg, or placebo. The majority of patients in all three groups had been receiving at least twice-daily ICS therapy.
Significantly more patients in the placebo group discontinued treatment due to worsening disease or no improvement than patients in the other groups. Patients in the treatment groups also experienced significant improvements in forced expiratory volume, peak expiratory flow rates, forced vital capacity, midexpiratory flow rate, asthma symptoms, and ß2-agonist requirements compared with patients in the placebo group.
Adverse events were typically mild to moderate in the treatment groups and similar to those of placebo-treated children, the investigators point out.
"Poor patient compliance with inhaled therapy is often a problem in asthma," the authors state. "Once-daily treatment regimens may aid in patient compliance, especially in a pediatric population."
Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol 2001;86:633-640.
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