Title |
Quintupling Inhaled Glucocorticoids to Prevent Childhood Asthma Exacerbations
|
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Published in |
New England Journal of Medicine, March 2018
|
DOI | 10.1056/nejmoa1710988 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Daniel J Jackson, Leonard B Bacharier, David T Mauger, Susan Boehmer, Avraham Beigelman, James F Chmiel, Anne M Fitzpatrick, Jonathan M Gaffin, Wayne J Morgan, Stephen P Peters, Wanda Phipatanakul, William J Sheehan, Michael D Cabana, Fernando Holguin, Fernando D Martinez, Jacqueline A Pongracic, Sachin N Baxi, Mindy Benson, Kathryn Blake, Ronina Covar, Deborah A Gentile, Elliot Israel, Jerry A Krishnan, Harsha V Kumar, Jason E Lang, Stephen C Lazarus, John J Lima, Dayna Long, Ngoc Ly, Jyothi Marbin, James N Moy, Ross E Myers, J Tod Olin, Hengameh H Raissy, Rachel G Robison, Kristie Ross, Christine A Sorkness, Robert F Lemanske |
Abstract |
Background Asthma exacerbations occur frequently despite the regular use of asthma-controller therapies, such as inhaled glucocorticoids. Clinicians commonly increase the doses of inhaled glucocorticoids at early signs of loss of asthma control. However, data on the safety and efficacy of this strategy in children are limited. Methods We studied 254 children, 5 to 11 years of age, who had mild-to-moderate persistent asthma and had had at least one asthma exacerbation treated with systemic glucocorticoids in the previous year. Children were treated for 48 weeks with maintenance low-dose inhaled glucocorticoids (fluticasone propionate at a dose of 44 μg per inhalation, two inhalations twice daily) and were randomly assigned to either continue the same dose (low-dose group) or use a quintupled dose (high-dose group; fluticasone at a dose of 220 μg per inhalation, two inhalations twice daily) for 7 days at the early signs of loss of asthma control ("yellow zone"). Treatment was provided in a double-blind fashion. The primary outcome was the rate of severe asthma exacerbations treated with systemic glucocorticoids. Results The rate of severe asthma exacerbations treated with systemic glucocorticoids did not differ significantly between groups (0.48 exacerbations per year in the high-dose group and 0.37 exacerbations per year in the low-dose group; relative rate, 1.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.8 to 2.1; P=0.30). The time to the first exacerbation, the rate of treatment failure, symptom scores, and albuterol use during yellow-zone episodes did not differ significantly between groups. The total glucocorticoid exposure was 16% higher in the high-dose group than in the low-dose group. The difference in linear growth between the high-dose group and the low-dose group was -0.23 cm per year (P=0.06). Conclusions In children with mild-to-moderate persistent asthma treated with daily inhaled glucocorticoids, quintupling the dose at the early signs of loss of asthma control did not reduce the rate of severe asthma exacerbations or improve other asthma outcomes and may be associated with diminished linear growth. (Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; STICS ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02066129 .). |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United States | 40 | 19% |
Spain | 35 | 17% |
United Kingdom | 15 | 7% |
Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 4 | 2% |
Italy | 4 | 2% |
Australia | 3 | 1% |
Argentina | 3 | 1% |
Canada | 3 | 1% |
Mexico | 2 | <1% |
Other | 20 | 9% |
Unknown | 82 | 39% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 138 | 65% |
Scientists | 35 | 17% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 35 | 17% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 3 | 1% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 210 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Other | 43 | 20% |
Student > Bachelor | 21 | 10% |
Student > Master | 20 | 10% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 17 | 8% |
Researcher | 16 | 8% |
Other | 42 | 20% |
Unknown | 51 | 24% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 114 | 54% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 6 | 3% |
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science | 6 | 3% |
Sports and Recreations | 5 | 2% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 3 | 1% |
Other | 20 | 10% |
Unknown | 56 | 27% |