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Treatment of Asthma in the Elderly: Questionnaire Survey in Japan

Authors :
Reiko Taki
Yuka Mishima
Kimitake Tsuchiya
Yoshikazu Tsukada
Susumu Isogai
Jun Takagiwa
Ichiro Natsume
Tsutomu Kawasaki
Kazuhito Saito
Nobuo Ishiwata
Torahiko Jinta
Yoshihiro Miyashita
Motohisa Yamasaki
Naohiko Inase
Yasuto Jinn
Tamon Yagi
Tomoyuki Ogata
Tomoshige Chiaki
Masato Kishi
Reina Imase
Sahoko Chiba
Source :
International Journal of Clinical Medicine. :236-247
Publication Year :
2017
Publisher :
Scientific Research Publishing, Inc., 2017.

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of asthma in the elderly has been increasing due to the aging of the global population. Appropriate treatment for asthma in the elderly is now a major issue, as the disease is often fatal and incurs high medical costs in the elderly population. There have been few recent reports on asthma treatment for the elderly in the real-world clinical settings. Objectives: This study was performed to assess how respiratory physicians manage asthma in elderly patients in clinical settings in Japan. Methods: Respiratory physicians in 16 Japanese hospitals responded to a questionnaire survey on asthma and COPD treatment between December 2014 and February 2015. The analysis was performed using data collected from medical records on 2041 asthma patients. Results: The mean patient age was 61.2 years, and 36.6% of the patients were men. In the breakdown by age, 1018 (49.9%) of the patients were elderly (≥ 65 years). Compared to the non-elderly, the elderly patients had a significantly lower BMI, greater smoking history in pack-years, and poorer pulmonary function. There were no significant differences between the elderly and non-elderly in the prescription rates of common medications such as inhaled corticosteroids, long-acting beta-agonists (LABA) administered via inhaler or transdermal patch, long-acting muscarinic antagonists, or leukotriene receptor antagonists. In contrast, mucoactive drugs (18.7% vs. 12.3%, P P P = 0.02). Conclusions: According to this survey, the prescription rates of mucoactive drugs, macrolides, and transdermal LABA were significantly higher in the elderly than in the non-elderly.

Details

ISSN :
21582882 and 2158284X
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
International Journal of Clinical Medicine
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........a1e61c57e6a391563908603a40b701b1
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.4236/ijcm.2017.84023