USE OF HERBAL PRODUCTS, COFFEE OR BLACK TEA, AND OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS AS SELF-TREATMENTS AMONG ADULTS WITH ASTHMA

Background: There are few data on the use. of alternative therapies in adult asthma and their impact on health outcomes. Objective: The obje ctive of this study was to study the prevalence and morbidity of asthm a self-treatment with herbs, coffee or black tea, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications containing ephedrine or epinephrine. Methods: We ca rried out a cross-sectional analysis of interview data for 601 adults with asthma recruited from a random sample of pulmonary and allergy sp ecialists. We estimated the 12-month prevalence of reported use of her bal products, coffee or black tea, or OTC products to self-treat asthm a and their association with emergency department visits and hospitali zation. Results: Herbal asthma self-treatment was reported by 46 (8%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 6% to 10%); coffee or black tea self-trea tment by 36 (6%; 95% CI 4% to 8%), epinephrine or ephedrine OTC use by 36 (6%; 95% CI 4% to 8%), and any of the three practices by 98 subjec ts (16%; 95% CI 13% to 19%). Adjusting for demographic and illness cov ariates, herbal use (odds ratio [OR] 2.5; 95% CI 1.1 to 5.6) and coffe e or black tea use (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.2 to 7.8) were associated with as thma hospitalization; OTC use was not (OR 0.8; 95% CI 0.3 to 2.5). Con clusions: Even among adults with access to specialty care for asthma, self-treatment with nonprescription products was common and was associ ated with increased risk of reported hospitalization. This association does not appear to be accounted for by illness severity or other dise ase covariates. It may reflect delay in utilization of more efficaciou s treatments.