Primary care cohort study in the sequence of diagnosing chronic respiratory diseases and prescribing inhaled corticosteroids.

ABSTRACT: To prevent unnecessary use of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), ICS treatment should only be started when the diagnostic process of asthma and COPD is completed. Little is known about the chronological order between these diagnoses and the start of ICS. We performed a retrospective cohort study, based on electronic medical records of 178 Dutch general practices, to explore the temporal relations between starting continuous use of ICS and receiving a diagnosis of asthma and/or COPD. The database included information of patients who were registered with a diagnosis of asthma and/or COPD in one of the practices during January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2013. Two or more successive prescriptions of ICS within 6 months were considered as continuous ICS treatment. The chronological order of events ba

SUBMITTER: Geraets I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6177428 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature