Analysis of PBS data shows that in 2022-2023: Preventer use: amongst people aged 50 and under who were dispensed at least one preventer in 12 months (note: people over 50 may have used a preventer for COPD): – 31% were considered to have good adherence to their preventer (dispensed a preventer 3 or more times…
Analysis of PBS data shows that in 2022-2023, 27% of people aged 40 and under (and dispensed at least one reliever during the year) were considered to have poor asthma control based on their use of reliver medication (dispensed reliever medicine 3 or more times in a year) – progress compared to 29% in 2017-2018….
In 2022-2023, the expenditure for asthma was an estimated $1,192 million spent on the treatment and management of asthma (out of $172 billion total health expenditure in 2022-2023), making asthma the third most costly respiratory disease after COPD and Upper respiratory conditions. Asthma expenditure included: – $378M in hospital expenditure (public ED, admitted and outpatient…
A Victorian retrospective pharmacy-based database search of all inpatient inhaler dispensing from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 at The Royal Melbourne Hospital. Findings: – 9,246 inhalers were dispensed in a year, of which 79% were MDIs and accounted for 99% of the total inhaler carbon footprint – Salbutamol MDI (51%), ipratropium MDI (12.5%)…
A small qualitative study in NSW and VIC interviewed 32 adults with severe asthma, currently treated, and reported that timely severe asthma diagnosis in Australia appears to be hampered by an absence of a clear referral process, lack of general practitioner (GP) knowledge of additional treatment options, under-utilisation of pharmacists, and multiple specialists treating patient…
Risk factors – Asthma Burden of Disease (AIHW 2024) Risk factors attributable burden of asthma: the Burden of Disease study estimated that in 2024: – 36% of asthma total burden was due/attributed to all risk factors combined – 24% was due/attributed to being overweight (including obesity) – 7% was due/attributed to tobacco use – 5%…
Information from the burden of Disease study 2024:(ref 1) In 2024, Asthma was the 10th leading contributor to the total burden of disease in Australia with a disability-adjusted life years (DALY) rate of 5.35 per 1,000 population (143,782 DALY, crude number), similar to 2023 – After adjustment for age structure, asthma was the 8th leading…
A study in 668 adults asthma patients looked at the carbon footprint of inhalers and found that as needed budesonide-formoterol DPI (e.g. Symbicort) resulted in: – 95.8% less carbon emission than as-needed salbutamol pMDI (e.g. Ventolin) – 93.6% less carbon emission than maintenance budesonide DPI + as-needed salbutamol pMDI Note: this is a rather small…
A study including 236K participants with poorly controlled asthma in the UK reported that poorly controlled asthma results in: – 3 times the carbon emissions of well-controlled asthma (on average) – Excess was largely driven (90%) by inappropriate use of SABA.
Researchers analysed the carbon footprint of inhaled medications in Europe using 2020 European sales data, and estimated the emissions of different treatment regimens on Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) step 2. Findings: – There is potential to reduce the carbon footprint of inhaled medications by 85% if DPIs are preferred over pMDIs. – For moderate…