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Background: There are limited studies comparing budesonide inhalation suspension (BIS) with montelukast in real-world settings where treatment adherence and persistency may be suboptimal. This real-world study aims to investigate the control effectiveness of montelukast or BIS as a monotherapy in Chinese children with mild asthma.
Methods: Data were derived from a retrospective questionnaire-based analysis of 2‒14-year-old children with mild persistent asthma, who received either 500 µg of BIS (n = 153) or 4‒5 mg of montelukast (n = 240) once daily. The indicators of asthma control, the Asthma Control Test (ACT)/Childhood ACT (C-ACT) score, and the asthma-related medical costs were assessed. The differences between the two groups were compared using an unpaired t-test (normally distributed), Mann¨CWhitney U test (non-normally distributed) or chi-squared test (categorical variables).
Results: Medication compliance in the past 3-month period was better in the montelukast group than in the BIS group (P = 0.042). The montelukast group exhibited better asthma control in the past 4-week period, including lower percentages of asthmatic children with symptoms more than twice a week (P = 0.021), had night waking or night coughing (P = 0.022), or required reliever medication more than twice a week (P<0.001). The montelukast group had a lower percentage of children with an ACT/C-ACT score¡Ü19 (P=0.015). Caregivers reported a signifcantly better exercise tolerance in the children who received montelukast vs. BIS in the past 12 months (P><0.001). Signifcantly higher medical expenditures attributable to asthma in the past 12 months were observed in the BIS group vs. montelukast group (P> < 0.001). The montelukast group had a lower percentage of children with an ACT/C-ACT score ¡Ü 19 (P = 0.015). Caregivers reported a significantly better exercise tolerance in the children who received montelukast vs. BIS in the past 12 months (P<0.001). Signifcantly higher medical expenditures attributable to asthma in the past 12 months were observed in the BIS group vs. montelukast group (P> < 0.001). Conclusion: Both treatments provided acceptable overall asthma control in children with mild persistent asthma; however, more reliever medication and more medical expenditures attributable to asthma were needed for BIS vs. montelukast in real-world settings, where factors such as compliance were also taken into account.
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