Efficacy and Cost Benefit of Inhaled Corticosteroids in Patients Considered to Have Mild Asthma in Primary Care Practice

OBJECTIVE: Inhaled corticosteroids are infrequently used as asthma therapy in patients considered to have mild asthma in primary care practice. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the use of low doses of inhaled corticosteroids (budesonide), supplemented with bronchodilators as needed, provides clinical benefit and is cost beneficial compared with therapy with bronchodilators alone, in patients considered by their physicians in a primary care setting to have mild asthma, not requiring inhaled corticosteroids. DESIGN: Double‐blind, randomized controlled study comparing three parallel treatment groups receiving 400 mg or 800 mg inhaled budesonide/day or placebo. SETTING: Seven primary care practices across Canada. PATIENTS: Fifty‐seven adult asthmatics considered to have mild asthma not needing inhaled corticosteroids. OUTCOME MEASURES: Patients recorded morning and evening peak expiratory flow rates (PEFR) and daily asthma symptom scores. Economic data were collected regarding drug and service use and willingness to pay. RESULTS: Budesonide significantly reduced early morning and nocturnal symptoms and sputum production, and reduced the use of a bronchodilator compared with placebo. The budesonide groups also showed significant improvements in PEFR, before and after bronchodilator. No differences were found between the two dosages of budesonide; however, the study had insufficient power to detect differences between dosages, had they been present. There was a similar frequency of adverse events in all three treatment groups. The willingness‐to‐pay assessment found that both doses of budesonide were more cost beneficial than placebo. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that inhaled budesonide 400 mg/day provides better asthma control and is cost beneficial compared with bronchodilators alone in the management of patients with mild asthma who were not considered to need inhaled corticosteroids in primary care practice.