PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 440 - 29 Nov 2003

Antiasthmatics overused amongItalian paediatric patients

Antiasthmatic medications, particularly inhaledcorticosteroids, are overused among paediatric patientsin Italy, and beclomethasone and flunisolide appear tobe prescribed "in an inappropriate manner", suggestresearchers from that country.

They used a multiregional database to evaluateantiasthmatic drug prescriptions among417 559 patients aged < 14 years who were living innorthern Italy during the year 2000. Antiasthmaticprescriptions were received by 22% of this population,and by significantly more boys than girls. Inhaledcorticosteroids, particularly beclomethasone andflunisolide, were prescribed twice as often asbronchodilators, and mostly in the form of nebulisedsuspensions to children aged ≤ 5 years. Notably, 72% ofpatients received prescriptions for occasional or short-term antiasthmatic medication (less than three boxes),indicating therapy for diseases other than asthma and"for which there is no evidence of efficacy", theresearchers remark.

The prevalence of antiasthmatic prescriptionsdecreased significantly with increasing age (34% inpatients aged < 1 year vs 11% in those aged > 12 years),although fluticasone propionate was prescribed morefrequently among older children. Overall, 59% ofpatients received monotherapy, while 30% and 11%received two or ≥ 3 drugs, respectively.Clavenna A, et al. Inappropriate use of anti-asthmatic drugs in the Italian paediatricpopulation. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 59: 565-569, No. 7, Oct2003 800964582

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PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 29 Nov 2003 No. 4401173-5503/10/0440-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved