Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33154546›Full record

ArticleScientific reports2020

Overuse of reliever inhalers and associated healthcare utilization of asthma patients.

Ronit Hadad, Diana Likhtenshtein, Nimrod Maimon, Tzahit Simon-Tuval

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ronit HadadDepartment of Health Systems Management, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Diana LikhtenshteinClalit Health Services, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Nimrod MaimonDivision of Internal Medicine, Pulmonology Institute, Soroka University Medical Center, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Tzahit Simon-TuvalDepartment of Health Systems Management, Guilford Glazer Faculty of Business and Management and Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, 84105, Beer-Sheva, Israel. simont@bgu.ac.il.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Global Initiative for Asthma 2019 guidelines recommend to avoid strengthening patients' reliance on relievers since they increase exacerbation risk. Our aim was to examine the association between reliever inhalers overuse and all-cause healthcare utilization (HCU). A retrospective study among Clalit Health Services (CHS) adult enrollees (n = 977) for 2012-2017. Reliever inhalers overuse was defined as consistent prescription refills of ≥ 3 canisters annually. Adherence to controllers was calculated using the proportion of days covered. HCU included: hospitalizations, diagnostic and surgical procedures, medications, emergency room (ER) visits, and clinic visits. 27% of the study population (n = 264) consistently refilled ≥ 3 relievers prescriptions annually, and had higher adherence to controllers (0.38 vs. 0.24, p < 0.001). Their total 6-year HCU costs were not higher than that of others ($5,550 vs. $5,562, p = 0.107). Most HCU components [including hospitalization (p = 0.405) and ER visits (p = 0.884)] were comparable; however, medication costs were higher ($1734 vs. $1504, p < 0.001). A multivariable ordered-logit model revealed that frequent and regular use of relievers was not associated with higher HCU costs (OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.62-1.09, p = 0.175). Higher adherence to maintenance and reliever therapy (OR = 2.18, 95% CI 1.44-3.28, p < 0.001), other controllers (OR = 3.30, 95% CI 2.11-5.16, p < 0.001), and nebulized SABAs and SAMAs (OR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.14, p = 0.007) was associated with higher costs. Overuse of reliever inhalers was prevalent and associated with higher adherence to controllers, yet not associated with higher all-cause HCU. This highlights the need to examine the sources of elevated usage in order to develop intervention strategies to optimize pharmaceutical therapy of asthma patients.

Indexed as

Nebulizers and VaporizersAdultAnti-Asthmatic AgentsAsthmaFemaleHealth ServicesHumansMaleMedication AdherenceMiddle AgedPatient Acceptance of Health CareRetrospective StudiesYoung AdultAnti-Asthmatic Agents

Identifiers

PMID33154546
PMCPMC7645652

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.