A study published online June 11 2015 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine showed that asthma patients over 30 years of age who were using inhaled corticosteroids experienced a greater proportion of treatment failures than younger patients.
Data from 10 clinical trials between 1993 and 2003 gathered by the Asthma Clinical Research Network showed that approximately 17% of patients aged 30 and older experienced treatment failures compared to about 10% for patients under 30.
Study author Michael E. Wechsler, Director of the Asthma Program at National Jewish Health in Denver, said, “Asthma morbidity and mortality are known to be increased in middle-aged and older patients, and gender may also affect the incidence and course of the disease, but the impact of age and gender on asthma treatment response is not well understood. In our study of 1,200 patients with mild-to-moderate asthma, the risk of treatment failure was increased in patients aged 30 and above, and these failure rates increased proportionally with increasing age above age 30 across our study cohort. We also found that the rate of treatment failure did not significantly differ between males and females.”
Researcher Ryan Dunn of the National Jewish Health Center added, “Our novel finding of decreased responsiveness to asthma therapy with increasing age may involve not only biological mechanisms such as differences in the type of airway inflammation in older patients, but may also involve socioeconomic, geographic, or treatment adherence differences between older and younger patients. Further research is needed to elucidate the causes underlying our observations and to examine whether older patients might benefit from a unique treatment approach.”
Read the abstract.
Read the journal’s press release.
