Open AccessA cost analysis on the pattern of asthma prescribing in the UK
Author(s) -
Neville R.g.,
Pearson M.g.,
Richards N.,
Patience J,
Sondhi S,
Wagstaff B,
Wells N
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
european respiratory journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.021
H-Index - 241
eISSN - 1399-3003
pISSN - 0903-1936
DOI - 10.1034/j.1399-3003.1999.14c20.x
Subject(s) - asthma , medicine , medical prescription , pound sterling , audit , pound (networking) , pediatrics , asthma management , proxy (statistics) , accounting , business , machine learning , world wide web , computer science , monetary economics , economics , pharmacology
There is a need to establish the proportion of adult asthmatics at each step of the recommended asthma management guidelines, the cost of their prescribed treatment, and a revised cost of treatment assuming patients who were suboptimally controlled were moved up a step. Actual prescription and cost figures and a theoretical projection of an ideal scenario was calculated from a sample of general practices in Great Britain from the Doctors Independent Network. They comprised 102 nationally distributed practices and 17,206 adult patients with a diagnosis of, and prescription related to, asthma recorded between October 1993 and March 1994. Ninety‐one per cent of patients received treatment within a recognized step of the guidelines. Of these, 80% were at steps 1 and 2. Employing excess inhaled beta‐agonist use as a proxy for control of asthma, between 55% and 69% of patients at Steps 1–3 should receive treatment at a higher step. This could lead to an increased expenditure of up to £4.66 per adult patient per month. This would imply a rise in the annual UK cost of antiasthma prescriptions for adults from £388m to a possible £533m. The United Kingdom Government audit commission has suggested that current expenditure on asthma treatment appears to be insufficient. Using an entirely different approach this study has confirmed that a significant increase in asthma prescribing costs is likely to be needed if optimal control of asthma is to be achieved.