The Journal of asthma : official journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma
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Comparative Study
Disparities in asthma medication dispensing patterns: the case of pediatric asthma in Puerto Rico.
Disparities exist in asthma medication dispensing between children with public insurance and those with private insurance under a Managed Care Medicaid system in Puerto Rico. ⋯ A disparity exists in asthma medication dispensing between children with public insurance compared with those with private insurance under a Managed Care Medicaid system in Puerto Rico. If asthma disparities in medication dispensing are to be reduced, then a better understanding of the complex ways in which multiple variables related to the health care system policies, socioeconomic factors, family and provider interactions, as well as the relative weight that each one contributes to the observed inequalities is needed.
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The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Union (EU) have precise and accurate Mini Wright peak flow meters. The purpose of this investigation was to compare both 1) for accuracy using a pneumotachometer, 2) in volunteers to determine whether they are interchangeable, and 3) to spirometrically predicted peak flows. ⋯ The ATS peak flow meter reads 2.8% higher than the EU peak flow meter across a range of flows. Both meters have similar accuracy with a different bias compared with a pneumotachometer. Finally, both peak flow meters read slightly and significantly higher than spirometrically derived peak flows. Therefore, the peak flow meters are not interchangeable and both may obtain slightly higher values than those determined using current spirometrically derived prediction equations.