Inappropriate prescribing of inhaled corticosteroids: are they being prescribed for respiratory tract infections? A retrospective cohort study.

Background: Guidelines recommend regular use of inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)-containing medications for all patients with persistent asthma and those with moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It is important to identify indicators of inappropriate prescribing.

Aims: To test the hypothesis that ICS are prescribed for the management of respiratory infections in some patients lacking evidence of chronic airways disease.

Methods: Medication dispensing data were obtained from the Australian national Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for concessional patients dispensed any respiratory medications during 2008. We identified people dispensed only one ICS-containing medication and no other respiratory medications in a year, who were therefore unlikely to have chronic airways disease, and calculated the proportion who were co-dispensed oral antibiotics.

Results: In 2008, 43.6% of the 115,763 patients who were dispensed one-off ICS were co-dispensed oral antibiotics. Co-dispensing was seasonal, with a large peak in winter months. The most commonly co-dispensed ICS among adults were moderate/high doses of combination therapy, while lower doses of ICS alone were co-dispensed among children. In this cohort, one-off ICS co-dispensed with oral antibiotics cost the government $2.7 million in 2008.

Conclusions: In Australia, many people who receive one-off prescriptions for ICS-containing medications do not appear to have airways disease. In this context, the high rate of co-dispensing with antibiotics suggests that ICS are often inappropriately prescribed for the management of symptoms of respiratory infection. Interventions are required to improve the quality of prescribing of ICS and the management of respiratory infections in clinical practice.