Current Biologic Therapies for Severe Asthma and Real-World Data: Are Expectations Being Met?

Advances in knowledge about clinical features, physiology, and underlying immunology are leading to targeted therapies and a new era of therapies. Biological treatments for severe asthma have changed the way this disease is managed, especially in patients who do not respond adequately to conventional treatments with corticosteroids and bronchodilators. These treatments block the action of different molecules involved in the immune response and in the inflammation of the airways, bronchoconstriction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and excessive mucus production.

Adherence to inhalers in patients with severe asthma treated with anti-interleukin-5 biologics.

Objective: Given poor medication adherence in severe asthma is difficult to  evaluate in daily practice, using at least two methods concurrently is recommended. We aimed to determine the prevalence of nonadherence  to  inhalers using the Test of Adherence to Inhalers questionnaire and the medication possession ratio obtained from the pharmacy refill data in patients with severe asthma treated with anti-interleukin-5 biologics and to evaluate their concordance.

Method: This was a cross-sectional retrospective observational study of 53  patients with severe asthma recruited from the severe asthma unit of a tertiary  hospital in Madrid from June to December 2020.

Inhaled bronchodilators use and clinical course of adult inpatients with Covid-19 pneumonia in Spain: A retrospective cohort study.

Background: In the current coronavirus health crisis, inhaled bronchodilators(IB) have been suggested as a possible treatment for patients hospitalized. Patients with evidence of Covid-19 pneumonia worldwide have been prescribed these medications as part of therapy for the disease, an indication for which this medications could be ineffective taken on account the pathophysiology and mechanisms of disease progression.

Objective: The main objective was to evaluate whether there is an association between IB use and length of stay.

Off-label use of inhaled bronchodilators in hospitalised patients in Spain: a multicentre observational study.

Background: Off-label prescription of inhaled bronchodilators (IB) is frequent, despite the fact that they can be ineffective and increase avoidable healthcare costs.

Objective: To analyse the frequency of off-label prescription of IB in hospitalised patients. Indications and level of evidence, involved drugs, medical specialties prescribing off-label IB and patients' adherence to IBs were also evaluated.

Informed consent in clinical research; Do patients understand what they have signed?

Informed consent is an essential element of research, and signing this document is required to conduct most clinical trials. Its aim is to inform patients what their participation in the study will involve. However, increasingly, their complexity and length are making them difficult to understand, which might lead patients to give their authorization without having read them previously or without having understood what is stated.