Comparison of once- with twice-daily dosing of fluticasone propionate in mild and moderate asthma

Two 12-week, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group studies were performed to compare the efficacy and safety of once- and twice-daily dosing of fluticasone propionate (FP) in the treatment of mild to moderate asthma, considered to require the equivalent of either 200 or 500 microg of FP daily. In study A, 461 patients with asthma received FP either 200 microg once daily or 100 microg twice daily. In study B, 443 patients with asthma received FP, either 500 microg once daily or 250 microg twice daily. In both studies, regardless of the treatment regimen to which patients were randomly assigned, small improvements over baseline were observed in morning peak expiratory flows (PEF) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) following 12 weeks of treatment. In study A, the mean morning PEF improved by 2.4% and 4.3% (once daily versus twice daily, P=0.008). In study B, the mean morning PEF improvement was 0.2% and 3.7% (once daily versus twice daily, P