Maintenance plus reliever budesonide/formoterol compared with a higher maintenance dose of budesonide/formoterol plus formoterol as reliever in asthma:an efficacy and cost-effectiveness study

Abstract

Compared with the 2 x 2 FIX + F treatment the use of budesonide/formoterol was 30-40% lower in the SMART groups while maintaining equal ACQ(5) scores. Daily asthma control improved equally with 2 x SMART compared to 2 x 2 FIX + F with a reduction in asthma medication cost. The one dose once daily maintenance treatment (1 x SMART) resulted in a low level of treatment failure (exacerbations) but led to more days with symptoms. Therefore, a daily dose of two inhalations seems to be the lowest appropriate dose in patients with moderate persistent asthma.