Table 2.
Medication administered and treatment persistence during the follow-up period
| Study groups | FP/SAL | BDP/FORM | BUD/FORM | FF/VI | FP/FORM | P value |
| Patients, n (%) | 996 (31.1) | 917 (28.6) | 802 (25.0) | 263 (8.2) | 225 (7.0) | |
| Medication use, % | ||||||
| Oral corticosteroids | 24.6 | 22.8 | 26.7 | 25.5 | 24.9 | 0.465 |
| Oral corticosteroids for chronic use | 22.0 | 18.5 | 20.2 | 18.6 | 18.7 | 0.373 |
| Systemic antibiotics | 10.0 | 9.2 | 10.1 | 10.3 | 10.1 | 0.959 |
| Short-acting beta-2 agonists | 90.0 | 93.0 | 91.2 | 89.5 | 92.2 | 0.221 |
| Long-acting anticholinergics | 17.0 | 15.2 | 13.8 | 16.0 | 13.8 | 0.414 |
| Systemic beta-2 agonists (xanthines) | 3.8 | 3.5 | 3.2 | 5.7 | 3.1 | 0.431 |
| Leukotriene receptor antagonists | 17.7 | 17.4 | 19.5 | 17.5 | 19.6 | 0.782 |
| Biologicals: omalizumab | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.997 |
| Inhaled corticosteroid doses, % | ||||||
| Low | 10.5 | 9.8 | 10.1 | 11.1 | 10.7 | |
| Medium | 47.1 | 46.5 | 45.0 | 46.2 | 47.1 | |
| High | 42.4 | 43.7 | 44.9 | 42.7 | 42.2 | 0.547 |
| Other variables | ||||||
| Time from diagnosis, years | 12.5 (4.5) | 12.7 (4.4) | 12.8 (4.2) | 12.6 (3.9) | 12.3 (3.9) | 0.373 |
| Treatment possession, months | 8.9 (3.6) | 8.9 (3.4) | 9.0 (3.3) | 9.6 (3.3)* | 9.7 (3.1)* | 0.046 |
| Duration of treatment, months | 9.9 (3.5) | 9.7 (3.6) | 10.0 (3.5) | 10.2 (3.4)* | 10.3 (3.2)* | 0.036 |
| Medication possession rate, % | 74.3 | 73.8 | 74.6 | 79.4* | 80.6* | 0.028 |
| 95% CI | 71.6 to 77.0 | 70.5 to 76.3 | 71.6 to 77.6 | 74.5 to 84.3 | 75.4 to 85.8 | |
| Treatment persistence, months | ||||||
| 6 | 81.9% | 81.2% | 82.4% | 86.0%* | 87.6%* | 0.014 |
| 12 | 60.7% | 61.2% | 60.3% | 66.7%* | 67.6%* | 0.046 |
| Death, % | 3.0 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.954 |
Values expressed as percentage or mean (SD, standar deviation), p: statistical significance.
*Statistically significant results (observed > expected).
BDP/FORM, beclomethasone/formoterol; BUD/FORM, budesonide/formoterol; CI, confidence interval; FF/VI, fluticasone furoate/vilanterol; FP/FORM, fluticasone propionate/formoterol; FP/SAL, fluticasone propionate /salmeterol.