Persistence and Adherence to ICS/LABA Drugs in UK Patients with Asthma: A Retrospective New-User Cohort Study

Introduction Asthma is associated with significant economic burden. Inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta 2 -agonist (ICS/LABA) combination therapies are considered mainstays of treatment. We describe real-world use of ICS/LABAs by comparing treatment persistence and adherence among patients with asthma in the United Kingdom initiating fluticasone furoate/vilanterol (FF/VI) versus budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FM) or beclometasone dipropionate/formoterol (BDP/FM). Methods A retrospective new-user active comparator database study was conducted in the IQVIA Medical Research Database. Propensity score (PS) matching was performed for FF/VI versus BUD/FM, and FF/VI versus BDP/FM. The primary objective was to compare patient treatment persistence (time to discontinuation), while secondary objectives included assessing adherence (mean proportion of days covered [PDC] with medication in the study period) and the proportions of patients achieving ≥ 50% and ≥ 80% PDC. Results New users of FF/VI ( N = 966), BUD/FM ( N = 5931) and BDP/FM ( N = 9607) were identified and PS-matched: FF/VI ( n = 945) versus BUD/FM ( n = 3272), and FF/VI ( n = 902) versus BDP/FM ( n = 3465). At 12 months, treatment persistence was 69% (FF/VI), 53% (BUD/FM) and 57% (BDP/FM). The likelihood of treatment discontinuation within 12 months after initiation with FF/VI was 35% lower than with BUD/FM and 31% lower than for BDP/FM (both p < 0.001). Mean PDC was higher for FF/VI compared with BUD/FM (77.7 vs 72.4; p < 0.0001) and BDP/FM (78.2 vs 71.0; p < 0.0001). The odds of achieving ≥ 50% and ≥ 80% PDC were greater for FF/VI than for BUD/FM and BDP/FM. Conclusions In this study, patients who initiated FF/VI were less likely to discontinue treatment and showed greater treatment adherence versus patients who initiated BUD/FM or BDP/FM.