Short-acting β

BACKGROUND

Short-acting β

OBJECTIVES

(I) To investigate the status of SABA overuse and medication dispensing patters in asthma in the Netherlands (II) validate dispensing data for SABA overuse identification and (III) understand patients' perspectives towards this SABA-taking behavior to inform future improvement strategies.

METHODS

An annually repeated cross-sectional study was conducted from 2017-2021 using pharmacy dispensing data in a real-world setting, including asthma patients aged 18-45 with ≥ 1 inhaler. A following qualitative study was performed in identified SABA overusing patients with a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews, supported by theoretical frameworks.

RESULTS

Dispensing data was available from 87% of all community pharmacies (n=1,994) in 2017 and 95% (n=2,005) in 2021. SABA overuse prevalence was constant for the five study-years with 20.6% (±0.5%). Increased ICS-formoterol and decreased SABA dispenses were observed in starters of inhalation therapy in 2021. 53 asthma patients completed the questionnaire of whom 43 patients confirmed SABA overuse, generating a positive predictive value of 81%. Key behavioral drivers covered 7 themes regarding capability (knowledge; skills; memory, attention and decision process) motivation (emotion; beliefs about- capabilities; consequences) and opportunity (environmental context).

CONCLUSION

SABA overuse remains in one-fifth of asthma patients across the Netherlands, requiring careful attention from healthcare professionals. Dispensing data is a valid measure for SABA overuse in a clinical setting, facilitating patient selection. To meet patients' varied supporting needs, integration of tailored behavioral interventions is essential.

Informations de copyright

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Competing Interest ☐ The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ☒ The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Martina Teichert reports financial support was provided by AstraZeneca. Martina Teichert reports financial support was provided by The Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (KNMP). MT received unconditional research grants from AstraZeneca and the KNMP for the advancement of pharmacy. The PhD project of CV is funded with these grants. MF and AO contributed equally to this manuscript as master pharmacy students at the Leiden University; MF is currently employed at the Health Base foundation and AO is employed in a community pharmacy in the Netherlands. The remaining author HJG declared no competing interests for this work. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.