Table 3.
Metered dose inhaler (n = 39,746) |
Breath-actuated inhaler (n = 9809) |
Dry powder inhaler (n = 6792) |
||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Median | IQR | Median | IQR | Median | IQR | |
Inhaled corticosteroids | 15.74a | 7.60–34.42 | 20.98 | 10.49–41.96 | 37.00 | 18.74–74.00 |
Oral corticosteroids | 0a | 0–0 | 0 | 0–0 | 0 | 0–0 |
SABA inhalers | 4.41a | 1.47–8.82 | 6.30 | 2.32–13.95 | 8.39 | 2.94–20.76 |
Total asthma-related drugs | 25.18a | 13.27–49.91 | 34.41 | 17.84–67.16 | 55.50 | 28.53–108.87 |
Total asthma-related drugs excl ICS | 4.83a | 2.32–12.00 | 8.34 | 2.94–20.08 | 11.83 | 5.16–25.10 |
Total drug costs | 54.66a | 26.86–118.31 | 66.63 | 34.03–141.62 | 86.03 | 46.33–179.62 |
Total drug costs excl ICS | 29.18a | 11.34–80.85 | 35.38 | 14.10–96.00 | 33.91 | 14.25–87.43 |
Asthma consult, primary care | 68.00a | 34.00–102.00 | 68.00 | 34.00–102.00 | 68.00 | 34.00–102.00 |
Other GP consultation | 204.00a | 102.00–340.00 | 204.00 | 102.00–340.00 | 170.00 | 102.00–306.00 |
Total asthma-related costs | 87.62a | 48.87–154.63 | 107.53 | 57.84–181.31 | 128.76 | 74.33–221.98 |
Total asthma-related costs excl ICS | 70.32a | 36.32–114.96 | 75.40 | 40.02–141.41 | 76.84 | 40.92–142.92 |
Total annual health care costs | 378.87a | 212.04–676.00 | 412.47 | 228.75–720.23 | 400.84 | 226.75–699.24 |
Total annual health care costs excl ICS | 353.04a | 188.66–642.93 | 379.13 | 206.04–680.29 | 342.38 | 183.70–626.05 |
Notes:
P ≤ 0.01 for comparisons among cohorts. Combination inhalers, long-acting β2 agonists, leukotriene receptor antagonists, theophylline, antibiotics, and all hospital visits were infrequently prescribed/recorded; thus median (IQR) costs were 0 (0–0) for these categories.
Abbreviations: excl, excluding; GP, general practice; ICS, inhaled corticosteroids; IQR, interquartile range; SABA, short-acting β2 agonist.