Analysis of the Consumption of Drugs Prescribed for the Treatment of Asthma in Belgian Children

(1) Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world among children. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the consumption of asthma medications in order to investigate asthma in children (2–18 years) and the association with health care consumption; (2) a retrospective study using anonymized administrative data for 2013–2018 from the third largest Belgian health insurer was conducted; (3) in 2018, 12.9% of children received at least one asthma medication and 4.4% received at least two packages with a minimum of 30 days between purchases. Preschool children (2–6 years) we... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Natacha Biset
Wies Kestens
Dominique Detemmerman
Murielle Lona
Güngör Karakaya
Ann Ceuppens
Stéphanie Pochet
Carine De Vriese
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
Reihe/Periodikum: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 19, Iss 548, p 548 (2022)
Verlag/Hrsg.: MDPI AG
Schlagwörter: children / respiratory disease / asthma / treatment / Medicine / R
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26525110
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010548

(1) Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world among children. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the consumption of asthma medications in order to investigate asthma in children (2–18 years) and the association with health care consumption; (2) a retrospective study using anonymized administrative data for 2013–2018 from the third largest Belgian health insurer was conducted; (3) in 2018, 12.9% of children received at least one asthma medication and 4.4% received at least two packages with a minimum of 30 days between purchases. Preschool children (2–6 years) were three times more likely to take asthma medication than older children (7–18 years). ICS, in combination or not with LABA, were the most dispensed drugs among children. Children with asthma medications were almost twice as likely to receive antibiotics, more likely to end up in the emergency room, and twice as likely to be hospitalized; (4) most children took ICS, according to the GINA guidelines. High rates of nebulization in young children were observed, despite the recommendation to use an inhaler with a spacing chamber as much as possible. Finally, children who took asthma medications were more likely to end up in the ER or be hospitalized.