"Implementing these findings could be transformative for asthma management on a global scale,” senior author of the study, Professor Richard Beasley, Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, said in a press release.
“The evidence that budesonide-formoterol is more effective than salbutamol in preventing asthma attacks in children with mild asthma has the potential to redefine the global standard of asthma management,” he added.
The current study describes results from a randomized controlled trial called CARE (Children's Anti-inflammatory REliever), which included 360 participants aged 5 to 15 years old with asthma in New Zealand. Participants were randomly assigned either the 2-in-1 budesonide 50 μg–formoterol 3 μg inhaler or an inhaler containing salbutamol 100 μg. They were tracked for a year.
Ultimately, the budesonide–formoterol inhaler prevented more asthma attacks than salbutamol. While participants taking the 2-in-1 inhaler had an average of 0.23 asthma attacks per year, those taking the salbutamol inhaler had an average of 0.41. Both formulations had a similar safety profile.
The authors noted, however, that the study has some limitations. As it was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, stringent public health measures and lower circulation of respiratory viruses contributed to a lower-than-predicted rate of severe asthma attacks. They noted, however, that the study's pragmatic, real-world design nevertheless makes its findings generalizable to clinical practice.
"Having an asthma attack can be very scary for children and their parents. I'm so pleased that we've been able to prove that an inhaler that significantly reduces attacks - already a game-changer for adults -- is safe for children with mild asthma too,” said co-author of the study, Professor Andrew Bush of Imperial College London in a press release.
“We believe this will transform asthma care worldwide and are excited to be building on this work with the CARE UK study,” he added.
Sources: Science Daily, The Lancet
