The Annals of pharmacotherapy
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Comparative Study
Treatment of Medicaid patients with asthma: comparison with treatment guidelines using disease-based drug utilization review methodology.
To compare asthma drug therapy in the Iowa Medicaid population with international treatment guideline recommendations and relate differences to patient outcomes. ⋯ Suboptimal asthma treatment in the Iowa Medicaid population, especially in regard to the use of inhaled corticosteroids as preventive therapy, was evident after comparison with treatment guidelines. Increased daily use of inhaled corticosteroids was associated with positive patient outcomes in accordance with guideline recommendations. Educational efforts to improve closer adherence to international guidelines both in prescribing practices and patient compliance with medication for asthma management should be undertaken.