TY  - JOUR
TI  - Short-term outcomes after implementation of SABA-free asthma management with a maintenance and anti-inflammatory reliever regimen within primary care
AU  - Harrison, Samantha
AU  - Goulding, Emma
AU  - Read, Julie
AU  - Ghosh, Sudip
PY  - 2025
JO  - Exploration of Asthma & Allergy
VL  - 3
SP  - 100969
DO  - 10.37349/eaa.2025.100969
UR  - https://www.explorationpub.com/Journals/eaa/Article/100969
AB  - Aim: Short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) overuse adversely affects asthma-related outcomes and the environment. The latest Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) report no longer recommends SABA-only therapy. Since 2020, we have implemented an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing reliever strategy for our moderately severe asthmatics within our practice population. We only administered budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FORM) via a single device maintenance and reliever therapy (MART) across this cohort and eliminated the use of SABA therapy. Methods: Our asthma registry revealed 195 patients in the cohort. All patients were invited for assessment and 101 patients agreed to this new strategy [MART + simultaneous anti-inflammatory reliever (AIR)]. The remaining 94 patients continued with MART and SABA inhalers. Both groups were followed up for 24 months. Results: There were no deaths in either group. Asthma-related hospitalizations fell by 91.5% in the SABA-free group (p = 0.003). Exacerbations requiring oral corticosteroids (OCS) fell by 82.1% in the SABA-free group over the 24-month period (p = 0.041). At the end of 24 months, 97.5% of patients in the SABA-free group remained SABA-free, with an average of 4.9 cannisters of BUD/FORM prescribed per year, compared with 7.68 cannisters in the MART/SABA groups (p = 0.00347). Conclusions: This data provides real world evidence that the use of MART/AIR with BUD/FORM simultaneously with the elimination of SABA is safe and effective for moderate asthmatics within primary care.
ER  -