The July 12, 2004 WebMD Health reported on a recent, nationwide study published in the journal Chest, which found that many doctors in the United States are not giving proper medications to people with asthma. According to the article, the study involved 12,363 asthma patients who visited hospital emergency departments. It found that doctors are not following the recommended asthma guidelines by under-prescribing asthma control medications and/or over-prescribing rescue medications, such as short-acting beta-agonists (SABA). The article explains that evidence-based guidelines recommend inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) therapy for asthma control, but this study found that only 25 percent of asthma patients received ICS in the year before their visit to the emergency department. It also found that over 80 percent of asthma patients received rescue medications, one third received an oral corticosteroid and more than 50 percent received a SABA. Furthermore, in the two months following their emergency room visit, 26 percent of the asthma patients received ICS therapy, 38 percent received a SABA and 42 percent received OCS therapy.
For the entire article: http://my.webmd.com/content/article/90/100730.htm?z=1728_00000_1000_1n_02.
Also see the July 12, 2004 issue of Forbes Magazine: http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/health/feeds/hscout/2004/07/12/hscout520005.html.
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