Adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in patients with asthma prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Rodríguez, Isabel; López-Caro, Juan Carlos; González-Carranza, Silvia; Cerrato, Maria Elena; Prado, Maria del Mar de; Gómez-Molleda, Francisca; Pinel, Margarita; Saiz, Maria Teresa; Fuentes, Carmen; Barreiro Portela, Esther; Santibáñez, Miguel

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40213-6

Adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in patients with asthma prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Llicència

Citació

Rodríguez I, López-Caro JC, Gonzalez-Carranza S, Cerrato ME, De Prado MM, Gomez-Molleda F, et al. Adherence to inhaled corticosteroids in patients with asthma prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sci Rep. 2023 Aug 11;13(1):13086. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-40213-6

Resum

The electronic prescription refill rate (EPRR) of 183 consecutive patients was determined over a 19-month retrospective study period, divided into 7 months PRE (Sep-19 to Mar-20) and 12 months POST pandemic (Apr-20 to Mar-21), in order to compare adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in patients with asthma prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic (PRE), an average of 0.58 inhalers/month were refill from the pharmacy; [SD 0.33], very similar to the 0.59 inhalers/month; [SD 0.34] retrieved during the 12 subsequent months since the pandemic (POST) (p = 0.768). EPRR showed no differences (p = 0.784). When EPRR was dichotomous or ordinal categorised no differences were found either (p = 0.851 and 0.928), even when McNemar's test was used (p = 0.949), with prevalences of nonadherence (EPRR < 80%) of 57 and 58% respectively. Our results do not support increased adherence to inhaler treatment in terms of EPRR, comparing before and since COVID-19 pandemic. Compliance with prescription remains suboptimal.