ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)1998
Comparison of potency of inhaled beclomethasone and budesonide in New Zealand: retrospective study of computerised general practice records.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Inhaled beclomethasone versus budesonide for chronic asthma.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2002Pooled it
- Methods for retrospective detection of drug safety signals and adverse events in electronic general practice records.Drug safety · 2012Article
- Trends in the use of inhaled corticosteroids for childhood asthma in New Zealand.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2003Article
- Practice based primary care research networks. They work and are ready for full development and support.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2001Article
- Comparison of inhaled beclomethasone and budesonide. Patients do not take prescribed doses.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 1999Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether inhaled budesonide and beclomethasone are equipotent in the treatment of asthma in primary care.
designRetrospective study of computerised clinical records from 28 general practices in New Zealand. SUBJECTS: 5930 patients who received 16 725 prescriptions for inhaled budesonide or beclomethasone from 1 July 1994 to 30 June 1995.
settingGeneral practices on the database of the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners Research Unit. Linked information from secondary care was available for a subset of the practices.
main outcome measureMean prescribed daily inhaled corticosteroid dose.
resultsThe daily prescribed dose was higher for patients receiving inhaled budesonide (mean 979 microg) than beclomethasone (mean 635 microg), a difference of 344 microg (95% confidence interval 313 to 376 microg). This difference was consistent in all age bands and with different types of inhalation device. Evidence of systematic prescribing of higher doses of budesonide to patients with more severe asthma was not found.
conclusionsIn primary care in New Zealand evidence suggests that budesonide is less potent than beclomethasone. Consideration of validated, established, and other possible markers of asthma severity did not support confounding by severity as a reason for the higher prescribed doses of budesonide. Pending further epidemiological evaluation, international asthma guidelines may need to be modified on the equivalence of inhaled corticosteroid doses. Furthermore, the comparative potency of newly developed inhaled steroids in clinical trials will need to be confirmed in appropriately designed epidemiological studies based in general practice.
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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.