Abstract

PREVALENCE AND USE OF RESCUE MEDICATION IN STABLE ASTHMA PATIENTS

N. Premkumar*, Sreeraj.K, J.N.Dharsana, Arun.B, Nigeeth.M

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the use of rescue medication in stable asthma patients Study design: The study was conducted in few Private hospitals in North Malabar region of Kerala state. The study was designed as a prospective open label study. A total of 115 patients with moderate to severe asthma were included in this study. Results: The study population consisted of 115 patients of these 79(68.7%) were males and 36(31.3%) were females. Of these 115 patients, 32 (27.8%) patients were received the salbutamol as rescue medication and 83(72.2%) were not received rescue medication in asthma therapy. Conclusion: As per GINA guidelines salbutamol should be considers as rescue medication for moderate to severe in stable asthma patients. In this study, use of salbutamol as rescue medication in asthma treatment was found to be minimal in this area. Salbutamol inhaler should be included as rescue medication to control acute exacerbations.

Keywords: Rescue medication, exacerbations, GINA.