Therapy discontinuation is high among asthma patients who begin multiple-inhaler triple therapy, researchers reported at the CHEST Annual Meeting.

“There is a limited amount of real-world data on treatment patterns after the discontinuation of therapy in the U.S.,” William Shiyuan Zhangvalue evidence and outcomes director at GlaxoSmithKline, said during a presentation.

The retrospective, observational cohort study evaluated the Truven MarketScan administrative claims database from 2017 to March 2019 for 4,132 adults with asthma with first-time initiation of multiple-inhaler triple therapy (mean age, 49 years; 67.9% women) and 4,393 adults with asthma and first-time discontinuation of multiple-inhaler triple therapy (mean age, 50 years; 68.4% women). All patients were followed for 6 months for discontinuation or reinitiation.

Multiple-inhaler triple therapy was defined as 1 day or more of overlapping inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), LABA and LAMA pharmacy claims. Discontinuation was defined as a 45-day or more gap in overlapping days’ supply of ICS, LABA and LAMA.

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