Table 5.

Unadjusted median health care costs (2007 pounds sterling) over 1 year after index prescription for patients receiving an increased dose of inhaled corticosteroid, by inhaler device type

	Metered dose inhaler (n = 6245)		Breath-actuated inhaler (n = 1388)		Dry powder inhaler (n = 1536)
	Median	IQR	Median	IQR	Median	IQR
Inhaled corticosteroids	41.94b	20.97–79.23	42.99	20.98–81.92	85.04	40.86–166.50
Oral corticosteroids	0b	0–0	0	0–0	0	0–0
SABA inhalers	7.35b	2.94–16.27	12.42	5.88–25.20	13.98	6.92–34.60
Total asthma-related drugs	66.14b	32.32–149.53	73.44	38.34–147.16	131.79	65.69–265.78
Total asthma-related drugs excl ICS	13.30b	4.65–55.79	18.61	6.30–54.09	27.34	9.95–79.81
Total drug costs	114.37b	54.13–262.15	115.74	60.19–242.07	183.96	92.25–369.53
Total drug costs excl ICS	56.89b	20.48–179.74	58.35	23.47–157.47	66.35	25.66–195.03
Asthma consult, primary care	68.00	34.00–102.00	68.00	34.00–102.00	68.00	34.00–136.00
Other GP consultation	204.00a	102.00–374.00	204.00	102.00–374.00	204.00	102.00–340.00
Total asthma-related costs	146.53b	80.87–280.43	149.88	86.45–258.51	221.13	123.50–398.89
Total asthma-related costs excl ICS	88.88b	41.44–198.04	93.20	42.82–182.60	109.52	51.64–227.10
Total annual health care costs	484.68b	275.15–878.44	462.34	257.81–829.67	549.69	318.02–967.20
Total annual health care costs excl ICS	428.98	231.59–787.60	398.20	214.19–764.30	439.82	225.71–800.34

Notes:

^aP < 0.05.

^bP < 0.01 for comparison 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.