Treatment preferences of adolescent patients with asthma

The study objective was to assess whether asthmatic adolescents who were regular users of inhaled corticosteroids preferred treatment with zafirlukast tablets or inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP), and, secondarily, to assess adolescents’ inhaler technique and their opinions about treatment. An open‐label, randomized, two‐period, cross‐over study was conducted in 18 centres (primary care to specialist asthma centres) in South Africa, the UK, Finland and the Czech Republic. One hundred and thirty‐two adolescents aged 12–17 years with asthma for at least 1 year and FEV1 ≥ 75% of predicted, treated with short‐acting bronchodilators and inhaled corticosteroids, entered the study. Patients received oral zafirlukast tablets (Accolate™) 20 mg bd or inhaled BDP 100 or 200 µg bd, provided by a standard pressurized metered‐dose inhaler, for 4 weeks each. One questionnaire was used to determine preference (the primary outcome measure) and a second questionnaire was used to determine patients’ likes and dislikes of treatment. Investigators also scored inhaler technique. Of 113 adolescents, 79 (70%) preferred zafirlukast compared with 31 (27%) who preferred the BDP inhaler (p