Effectiveness and Treatment Compliance of Salmeterol-Fluticasone Easyhaler(R) Among
Patients with Asthma, COPD, or Asthma-COPD Overlap Syndrome: Real-World Study Findings
Introduction For inhalation therapies to be effective, it is crucial that patients
manage inhaler use correctly in their everyday life and achieve treatment compliance.
We investigated the effectiveness of the salmeterol-fluticasone propionate Easyhaler(R)
(SF EH) device-metered dry powder inhaler in a real-world setting in Hungary among
adult patients with asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or asthma-COPD
overlap syndrome (ACO). Methods A prospective, open-label, multicenter, noninterventional,
investigator-sponsored study was conducted in outpatient pneumonology centers. Eligible
patients were aged >= 18 years with either a new diagnosis of asthma, COPD, or ACO,
or whose disease was not controlled with preexisting medication. Data were collected
at baseline and 12 + 4 weeks, including the asthma control test (ACT), COPD assessment
test (CAT), spirometry parameters [including forced expiratory volume for 1 s (FEV1)],
and physician- and patient-reported outcomes. Results Five hundred sixteen patients
were recruited from 103 centers: 376 with asthma; 104 with COPD; and 36 with ACO.
At week 12, there were significant improvements from baseline in both mean ACT score
in patients with asthma (14.4 +/- 4.2 versus 21.4 +/- 2.8; P < 0.001) and mean CAT
score in patients with COPD (24.0 +/- 6.1 versus 16.0 +/- 5.8; P < 0.001). Significant
improvement was observed when the switch from the most frequently used previous inhalers
was analyzed separately. Mean FEV1 improved from 76.0% +/- 17.2 to 84.7% +/- 16.1
(P < 0.001) and from 53.8% +/- 15.0 to 59.9% +/- 15.0 (P < 0.001) in patients with
asthma or COPD, respectively. The study demonstrated improved physician-rated overall
treatment compliance and patient preference for the SF EH over 3 months use compared
with previous inhaler treatment, with patients effectively adopting the SF EH into
everyday life. Conclusions Treatment with SF EH significantly improved patients' lung
function parameters and disease control.
