PRESCRIBING TRENDS FOR ANTIASTHMA DRUGS IN TASMANIA FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL ASTHMA CAMPAIGN

In recent years there has been a change in asthma pharmacotherapy, wit h considerably greater emphasis placed on the use of preventive therap y (inhaled corticosteroids and sodium cromoglycate) and less reliance on bronchodilator therapy. This study examined Tasmanian prescribing t rends to determine whether the recommended changes in the treatment of asthma had transpired into practice and to compare the State prescrib ing trends with national Australian data. Computerized dispensing reco rds, consisting of summarized monthly lists of all drugs dispensed, fr om almost one-third of all the community pharmacies within the State w ere retrospectively collected at intervals of 6 months between 1991 an d 1994. Anti-asthma drugs were grouped into beta-agonists, inhaled cor ticosteroids, theophylline, ipratropium bromide and sodium cromoglycat e, and quantities were converted to defined daily doses (DDDs)/1000 po pulation/day, by extrapolation to the entire Tasmanian population. The Tasmanian data were compared with estimated national dispensing data for anti-asthma drugs provided by the Drug Utilization Subcommittee of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. Tasmanian prescribing was generally similar to the national data, with large rises in the p rescribing of inhaled corticosteroids (61% increase), ipratropium brom ide (138% increase) and sodium cromoglycate (52% increase), and a decl ine in theophylline usage (43% decrease) over the period of the study. The prescribing of beta-agonists remained fairly stable over the peri od of the study, while there was a marked decrease in the ratio of dis pensed DDDs of beta-agonists:inhaled corticosteroids (from 2.9 to 1.7) . The overall usage of anti-asthma medication in Tasmania was found to be significantly higher than the national data for 1991 and 1992, wit h an April 1994 level of 74.7 DDDs/1000 population/day (an increase of 6% from April 1991). Tasmanian and national prescribing of anti-asthm a drugs appears to have changed in line with current management guidel ines, with greater emphasis on the use of inhaled corticosteroids. Mor e attention could also be given to the prescribing of anti-allergy pre ventive drugs.