Assigning asthma severity in observational studies is also complicated by the level of symptom control achieved through controller medications.
Further research is required to evaluate the economic impact of CAM usage, to further examine other potential factors determining the use of CAMs such as individuals' value systems and beliefs, access to care, health literacy and quality of life, and to rigorously study the causal interactions between CAM use, asthma control and use of controller medications.
The objective of this study was to explore the association between CAM use, asthma control and the use of controller medications in a random sample of adult patients with asthma.
This study explores whether CAM utilisation is associated with asthma control and the intake of asthma controller medications.
The CAM usage was inversely associated with asthma control, whereas unrelated to the use of controller medications.
11 Nonetheless, few studies have attempted to determine the association between the usage of CAMs and controller medications as a function of asthma control.
There was no difference in the reported use of controller medications (inhaled steroids and montelukast) between the control and remediation groups at CV1, CV2, or CV3 (data not shown).
Such attributes might include information on allergies, parental asthma [ 20], healthcare access, the number of prescribing providers [ 21], viral infection severity [ 52], compliance with asthma controller medications, and other known predictors of asthma control such as pet exposure [ 53].
However, at the practice-level, the two intervention approaches did not differ in changes in the proportion of patients using controller medications or oral steroids, or in frequency of medical visits [ 72].
11 However, the link between CAM usage and adherence to asthma controller medications is inconsistent in the literature and likely confounded by asthma control.
31 Prior morbidity (admissions, ED visits and rescue oral corticosteroids), asthma control using the Asthma Quiz for Kidz, 128 reported use of daily controller medications, environmental factors (eg, dust, animals and pollen) and perceived trigger of the exacerbation will be documented.
