A regular or an intermittent treatment for XXXX : the long-term effect.

@entity1 @entity565 @entity288
OBJECTIVES: Many asthmatics take therapy intermittently because of their scarce compliance. It is not known if this is effective in controlling and slowing down the lung function decline in @entity565 . Our aim was to compare the effect of a regular treatment and an intermittent one on some clinical aspects and on the forced expiratory volume 1 (FEV1) decline in 165 persistent asthmatics with FEV1 > 70% (60 @entity1 ; age 40.87 +/- 14.05; FEV1 95.03 +/- 13.1%), in a retrospective way over 4 years. @entity1 AND METHODS: Eighty-four @entity1 took inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) plus long-acting bronchodilator agents (LABAs) regularly (regular) and 81 @entity1 took ICSs plus LABAs intermittently for short periods when symptoms appeared (intermittent). RESULTS: Less @entity1 (p < 0.05) took oral @entity288 , short-acting bronchodilators as needed in regular compared to intermittent. More @entity1 increased the therapy (step-up) in intermittent (p < 0.01) More @entity1 reported a subjective improvement while fewer reported a worsening in regular (p < 0.05). After 4 years, the variation in maximal mid expiratory flow (FEF25-75) was lower in regular (-159.40 +/- 472.79 ml/sec; CI 95% -261.99, 56.82) than in intermittent (-324.44 +/- 569.97 ml/sec; CI 95% -450.48, -198.41); whereas the FEV1 decline was similar between regular (-276.97 +/- 199.37 ml; CI 95% -316.24, -229.71) and Intermittent (-317.65 +/- 194.05 ml; CI 95% -360.56, -274.74). In males and females, in smokers and non-smokers no differences were found in the FEV1 decline. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the regular use of ICSs plus LABAs is better than the irregular use of them in controlling @entity565 over a long period of time. Whereas, after 4 years the regular treatment may not decrease the FEV1 decline more effectively than the intermittent therapy.
