https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2914-8773
Figures & data
Figure 1 Definition of acute OCS Rx.
Figure 2 Cohort of asthma patients in Germany; 3.4 million patients received at least 2 prescriptions of licensed asthma medications, 2.4 million had an asthma diagnosis and were on maintenance asthma treatment and 625,000 patients were treated according to NVL/GINA step 4 or 5.
Figure 3 SABA prescription per patient in Germany. Eleven percent (250,000 patients) of patients with asthma maintenance therapy received prescriptions for more than 2 puffs SABA per day. More than 43,000 patients with GINA 4/5 treated asthma received 4 or more SABA prescriptions during the study year. Two thresholds were applied to estimate the number of patients with suspected SABA overuse: At least 3 SABA Rx with at least 90 days distance (76,000, permissive), or at least 4 SABA Rx per year, at least 60 days apart (43,000, conservative). Further SABA prescriptions issued within 90 days, or 60 days, respectively, to account for possible possession and concurrent use of multiple inhalers per patient.
Figure 4 Patients with GINA 4/5 asthma and ≥ 2 OCS prescriptions. Two thresholds were applied to estimate the number of patients with suspected OCS overuse: 29,000 patients with GINA 4/5 treated asthma received at least 2 OCS prescriptions during the study period (permissive estimate), 11,000 at least 3 OCS prescriptions (conservative estimate of OCS over users).
Figure 5 Overview of regional distribution of uncontrolled GINA 4/5 asthma in Germany. Up to 15% of all patients with GINA 4/5 asthma had characteristics of uncontrolled asthma in the different regions in Germany.
