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U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Interventions to Improve Adherence to Inhaled Steroids for Asthma

About this resource:

Systematic Review

Source: The Cochrane Collaborative

Last Reviewed: April 2017

Workgroups: Respiratory Diseases Workgroup

In this Cochrane systemic review, the Cochrane Collaborative found that various strategies can improve adherence to taking steroid inhalers for adults and children with asthma. The review included studies that compared usual asthma care with one of the following:

  • Adherence education
  • Electronic trackers or reminders
  • Simplified drug regimens
  • School‐based directly observed therapy

It’s unclear whether this improvement in adherence has clinical relevance on quality of life and asthma control.

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Objectives related to this resource (3)

Reduce asthma deaths — RD‑01
Little or no detectable change
Reduce emergency department visits for people aged 5 years and over with asthma — RD‑03
Little or no detectable change
Reduce asthma attacks — RD‑04
Little or no detectable change

Suggested Citation

1.

Normansell, R., Kew, K. M., & Stovold, E. (2017). Interventions to improve adherence to inhaled steroids for asthma. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017 (4). DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD012226.pub2