Does the Use of Asthma-Controller Medication in Accordance with Guidelines Reduce the Incidence of Acute Exacerbations and Healthcare Costs?

Abstract

Background In asthma, consistent control of chronic airway inflammation is crucial, and the use of asthma controller medication has been emphasized. The purpose of this study is to compare the incidence of acute exacerbation and healthcare costs according to the use of asthma controller medication.Methods By using data collected by the National Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, we compared 1-year clinical outcomes and medical costs from July 2014 to June 2015 (follow-up period) between two groups of patients with asthma depending on the prescription of recommended asthma controller medication (inhaled corticosteroids or leukotriene receptor antagonists) at least once from July 2013 to June 2014 (assessment period).Results There were 51,757 patients who satisfied our inclusion criteria. Among them, a total of 13,702 patients (26.5%) were prescribed recommended asthma controller medication during the assessment period. In patients using recommended asthma controller medication, the frequency of acute exacerbations decreased in the follow-up period from 2.7% to 1.1%. The total medical costs of the controller group decreased during the follow-up period compared to the assessment period from $3,772,692 to $1,985,475. However, only 50.9% of patients in the controller group used healthcare services in the follow-up period and the use of asthma controller medication decreased in the follow-up period. ConclusionOverall, patients using recommended asthma controller medication showed decreased acute exacerbation and reduced total healthcare cost half.