Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Children with Mild Asthma Can Use Inhalers As Needed


Sat 17 Aug 2019 | 10:49 AM
Ahmad El-Assasy

Children with mild asthma can effectively manage the condition by using their two inhalers—one a steroid and the other a bronchodilator—when symptoms occur, according to a new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. This is in contrast to the traditional method of using the steroid daily, regardless of symptoms, and the bronchodilator when symptoms occur. The investigators said that the as-needed use of both inhalers is just as effective for mild asthma as the traditional protocol.

The steroid inhaler lowers inflammation, and the bronchodilator—also known as a rescue inhaler—relaxes the airway during an asthma attack to quickly make breathing easier.

The study focused on African American children, who are disproportionately affected by asthma. The study appears in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice.

"We were pleased to find that as-needed treatment based on symptoms can deliver similar asthma control with less medication," said first author Kaharu Sumino, MD, an associate professor of medicine. "Patients in the group that used both inhalers as needed used about one-fourth the steroid dose of the group that inhaled a prescribed daily amount. We also were pleased to see that the patients and families felt that they had more ownership over their asthma management when practicing as-needed treatment."

About 6.2 million children under age 18 in the U.S. have asthma. Among white children, about 7.4 percent have asthma. Among African American children, that statistic is almost double, at 13.4 percent. According to the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, asthma attacks account for 1.8 million emergency room visits per year, and African Americans are three times more likely than average to be hospitalized due to asthma.

The study was conducted by primary care doctors at multiple pediatric practices throughout the St. Louis area, suggesting the strategy is widely applicable in a primary care setting and not just effective when implemented by researchers at a single academic medical center.