Sullivan PW, et al. – Given to the research, the degree of asthma control among school-aged children (SAC) nationally was not well understood. In this study, experts sought to distinguish poor control among SAC (aged 6–17 years) in the United States. As per findings, in order to mitigate the current and long–term public health effects and expenditures associated with poor asthma control, renewed and vigilant asthma management and treatment was necessary.

Methods

• Study design was a retrospective analysis of the 2007-2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
• Moreover, indicators of poor control included exacerbation in previous year; use of >3 canisters of short-acting β-agonist (SABA) in 3 months; and asthma-specific (AS) emergency department (ED) or inpatient (IP) visits.
• Daily controller medication and peak flow meter use were incorporated in treatment indicators.
• For health resource utilization (HRU), negative binomial regression was used; generalized linear models with log-link were used for health care expenditures.

Results

• 5,890 had asthma, among 44,320 SAC enrolled.
• Following were the prevalence of poor control and treatment among SAC with asthma: exacerbation (59%), >3 canisters of SABA (4%), ED/IP visit (3%), daily controller (19%), peak flow (12%).
• 3.4 million SAC had an asthma exacerbation and 200,000 had an AS ED/IP visit, in 2013.
• In comparison to SAC with asthma but no exacerbation, SAC with asthma and an exacerbation had 18.9 times more annual AS ED visits (and 43.3 times more AS hospitalizations).
• Moreover, SAC with asthma and an indicator of poor control incurred greater annual all-cause expenditures than SAC without asthma ($US 2015): $1,144 (exacerbation), $1,859 (≥3 canisters of SABA), and $3,063 (ED/IP visit).
• Even among SAC with poor control (27% to 61%), use of daily controller medication was low.