Table 3.

Study population: asthma characteristics

		Unrestricted Coverage		Restricted Coverage
Characteristic	Total	Lower-cost ICS User in 2003	Higher-cost ICS User in 2003	Lower-cost ICS User in 2003	Higher-cost ICS User in 2003
No. subjects	1,802	293	175	847	487
High-risk asthma flag in 2002*	12.1%	10.9%	17.1%	9.0%	16.4%
ED visit or hospitalization for asthma in 2002	6.7%	9.2%	5.1%	5.3%	8.2%
Oral steroid Rx dispensed in 2002	31.4%	27.7%	32.6%	27.5%	39.8%
Low ICS dose level in 2002	31.4%	55.3%	10.9%	53.5%	14.0%
Medium ICS dose level in 2002	36.2%	36.5%	37.1%	36.6%	35.1%
High ICS dose level in 2002	24.8%	8.2%	52.0%	9.9%	50.9%
	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)	Mean (SD)
No. of rescue medication canisters dispensed in 2002	3.73 (4.79)	3.57 (4.80)	4.06 (5.10)	3.44 (4.12)	4.18 (5.64)
ICS Days-of-supply in 2003**	187.5 (103.3)	200.0 (107.2)	204.4 (104.3)	187.8 (102.7)	173.4 (99.9)
ICS Days-of-supply in 2004**	161.3 (120.3)	184.7 (124.7)	184.4 (119.0)	162.0 (120.9)	137.5 (112.8)

Notes: Lower-cost ICS Users in 2003 defined as patients with greater use of lower-cost than higher-cost ICS drugs in 2003. ICS dose level categorized based on the first prescription in 2002 and the Global Initiative for Asthma treatment guidelines.

* The registry classified patients as high-risk if they met any of the following criteria: (1) ≥ 1 inpatient admissions with a primary asthma diagnosis in the previous 12 months, (2) ≥ 1 inpatient admissions with a secondary asthma diagnosis in the previous 12 months, accompanied by a primary asthma-related diagnosis, (3) ≥ 1 ED visits with an asthma diagnosis in the previous six months, (4) ≥ 5 prescriptions for asthma medication in the previous six months with ≥ 2 oral steroid prescriptions in the previous 12 months, or (5) ≥ 12 canisters of inhaled beta-agonists in the previous 12 months.

** p < .05 for difference between unrestricted and restricted coverage groups