An audit of compliance of inhaled steroid medication in Maltese asthmatic children : a comparison between 2008 and 2014

Abstract

In the treatment of bronchial asthma, inhaled therapy with bronchodilators and corticosteroids represents the basis for acute and long-term management. Drug therapy in asthma is predominantly by pressurized metered dose inhalers. The impact of treatment on the disease morbidity and mortality depends to a large extent on appropriate delivery of drugs to the lungs by means of a spacer device and on the continuity of treatment. Poor compliance with medication is a well known problem in conditions which require long-term treatment. This is especially so in asthma where initial improvement may be followed by longer remission and a tendency to stop treatment. Compliance is "the extent to which a person’s behaviour (in terms of taking medications, following diets, or executing lifestyle changes) coincides with medical or health advice." 1. Compliance with preventive therapy such as inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), the effects of which are seen over a period of weeks, may be less than compliance with drugs that relieve asthma symptoms more rapidly such as bronchodilators. To our knowledge there are no previous studies which have assessed the prevalence of non-compliance with inhaled corticosteroids in Maltese children.