Association of knee pain and different definitions of knee osteoarthritis with health-related quality of life: a population-based cohort study in southern Sweden.

Background: While the impact of knee pain and knee osteoarthritis (OA) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) has been investigated in the literature, there is a lack of knowledge on the impact of different definitions of OA on HRQoL. The main aim of this study was to measure and compare the impact of knee OA and its different definitions on HRQoL in the general population.

Methods: A random sample of 1300 participants from Malmö, Sweden with pain in one or both knees in the past 12 months with duration ≥4 weeks and 650 participants without were invited to clinical and radiographic knee examination.

The effects of inhaled budesonide on lung function in smokers and nonsmokers with mild persistent asthma.

Background: Previous studies have suggested a reduced benefit from therapy with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) in asthmatic patients who smoke. The objective of this post hoc study was to study the effects of low-dose inhaled budesonide on lung function in smokers and nonsmokers with mild persistent asthma.

Methods: Adult patients (age, >or= 18 years) in the inhaled Steroid Treatment As Regular Therapy in early asthma (START) study, a 3-year, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, were stratified according to their smoking habits.

Severe exacerbations and decline in lung function in asthma.

Rationale: To evaluate the association between asthma exacerbations and the decline in lung function, as well as the potential effects of an inhaled corticosteroid, budesonide, on exacerbation-related decline in patients with asthma.

Objectives: To determine whether severe asthma exacerbations are associated with a persistent decline in lung function.

Methods: The START (inhaled steroid treatment as regular therapy in early asthma) study was a 3-year, randomized, double-blind study of 7,165 patients (5-66 yr) with persistent asthma for less than 2 years, to determine whether early intervention with low-dose inhaled budesonide prevents severe asthma-related events (exacerbations requiring hospitalization or emergency treatment) and decline in lung function.

The Inhaled Steroid Treatment As Regular Therapy in Early Asthma (START) study 5-year follow-up: effectiveness of early intervention with budesonide in mild persistent asthma.

Background: The Inhaled Steroid Treatment as Regular Therapy in Early Asthma (START) study enrolled 7241 patients aged 5 to 66 years with recent-onset, mild persistent asthma to assess early intervention with the inhaled corticosteroid budesonide on long-term asthma control.

Objective: The open-label phase of the START study was included to determine the effect on lung function and asthma control of adding budesonide to the reference group patients who had not initially received inhaled corticosteroids.

Methods: Patients were randomized to double-blind treatment with budesonide, 200 mug (those aged < 11 years) or 400 mug once daily, or placebo plus the usual asthma therapy for 3 years, after which all patients received 2 years of open-label treatment with budesonide once daily.

Effectiveness of early budesonide intervention in Caucasian versus Asian patients with asthma: 3-year results of the START study.

Objective And Background: Few studies have assessed the effectiveness of inhaled corticosteroid therapy exclusively in Asian patients with asthma. The present analysis compared the efficacy of early intervention with inhaled budesonide in Caucasian and Asian patients over the first 3 years of the inhaled Steroid Treatment As Regular Therapy in early asthma study.

Methods: Patients aged 5-66 years with mild persistent asthma of View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Effects of early intervention with inhaled budesonide on lung function in newly diagnosed asthma.

Study Objectives: Asthmatic patients lose lung function faster than normal subjects. The effectiveness of early intervention with inhaled corticosteroids on this decline in lung function is not established in recent-onset disease.

Design: The Inhaled Steroid Treatment as Regular Therapy in Early Asthma study was a randomized, double-blind study in 7,165 patients (5 to 66 years old), with persistent asthma for < 2 years to determine whether early intervention with low-dose inhaled budesonide prevents severe asthma-related events and the decline in lung function.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of early intervention with budesonide in mild persistent asthma.

Background: The Inhaled Steroid as Regular Therapy in Early Asthma (START) study reported that early intervention with budesonide in mild persistent asthma reduces severe asthmatic events and improves symptom outcomes and lung function in adults and children.

Objective: We sought to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of early intervention with budesonide, as observed within the START study.

Methods: START was a randomized, 3-year controlled trial of budesonide in early onset mild asthma among 7165 subjects ages 5 to 66 years.

Early intervention with budesonide in mild persistent asthma: a randomised, double-blind trial.

Background: Although inhaled glucocorticosteroids are recommended for persistent asthma, their long-term effect on recent onset, mild, persistent asthma has yet to be established.

Methods: We did a randomised, double-blind clinical trial in 7241 patients in 32 countries to assess the effects of budesonide in patients who had had mild persistent asthma for less than 2 years and who had not had previous regular treatment with glucocorticosteroids. Patients aged 5-66 years received either budesonide or placebo once daily for 3 years in addition to their usual asthma medications.

Coping with missing data in clinical trials: a model-based approach applied to asthma trials.

In most clinical trials, some patients do not complete their intended follow-up according to protocol, for a variety of reasons, and are often described as having 'dropped out' before the conclusion of the trial. Their subsequent measurements are missing, and this makes the analysis of the trial's repeated measures data more difficult. In this paper we briefly review the reasons for patient drop-out, and their implications for some commonly used methods of analysis.