Scores of 20–25 are classified as well-controlled asthma; 16–19 as not
well-controlled; and 5-15 as very poorly controlled asthma. N ,
total number of qualified subjects for evaluation; n (%),
frequency (percentage of frequency); 95% CI, 95% confidence interval.
Maintenance therapy, medication availability and
prescription during the COVID-19
pandemic
Of note, during the COVID-19 pandemic, 13.5% (24/178) of the patients
had worried about insufficient maintenance medications, among whom
45.8% (11/24) had reduced medication dosing for this reason. After
reducing medication dosing, 27.3% (3/11) of them experience asthma
aggravation.
Among patients who had their prescriptions refilled during the COVID-19
pandemic, 60.6% (40/66) chose to go to hospitals (including community
clinics, secondary and tertiary hospitals), 36.4% (24/66) chose a
nearby pharmacy, and 3.0% (2/66) chose to buy online. For those who
could tell the amount of medication they got in a visit(n=55), 52.7%
(29/55), 21.8% (12/55), and 21.8% (12/55) had prescriptions enough for
1 month, 2 month and 3 month(or more) treatment, respectively.
For patients on maintenance therapy (n=105), 93.3% (98/105) used two or
even three drugs, as illustrated in Table 4. ICS plus LABA was the most
commonly used therapy, followed by ICS/LABA plus oral leukotriene
modifiers (LTRA) (Table 4).
Table 4. Current maintenance therapy