Triple drug inhalation with single inhaler increases adherence in asthma patients

USA: Patients with asthma who started triple treatment with single-inhaler fluticasone furoate/ umeclidinium/ vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) showed considerably greater adherence and persistence than those who started multiple-inhaler triple therapy (MITT), says an article published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

For individuals with uncontrolled asthma on inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting 2-agonist medication, treatment guidelines indicate triple therapy. Previously, triple treatment was only offered through the use of numerous inhalers. As a maintenance therapy for asthma, single-inhaler fluticasone furoate/ umeclidinium/ vilanterol is licensed; however, real-world data on adherence and persistence is inadequate.

As a result, William W. Busse and colleagues undertook this research in the United States to assess adherence and persistence among adult asthma patients taking single-inhaler FF/UMEC/VI versus multiple-inhaler triple treatment.

Patients with asthma who started once-daily FF/UMEC/VI 100/62.5/25 mcg or MITT between September 18, 2017, and September 30, 2019, were evaluated in this retrospective cohort study using IQVIA PharMetrics Plus data. Adjusted for variations in features between the FF/UMEC/VI and MITT groups using inverse probability weighting and multivariable regression. Adherence was measured using the proportion of days covered (PDC) and the proportion of patients who achieved PDCs of ≥0.8 and ≥0.5. Non-persistence was defined as a gap of more than 45 days between fillings.