Research presented at the ATS 2024 International Conference highlighted that only 14.5% of adults with moderate or severe asthma are prescribed the SMART inhaler regimen, despite its proven benefits in reducing exacerbations. Over 40% of clinicians have yet to adopt this guideline-recommended therapy, demonstrating a significant gap between clinical guidelines and practice.
Credit: ATS Healthcare providers are less likely to try a new inhaler regimen with older individuals or seniors who are more resistant to changing treatment regimens. According to research presented at the ATS 2024 International Conference, only 14.5 percent of adult patients with moderate or severe asthma receive the recommended SMART combination inhaler regimen, and more than 40 percent of academic pulmonary and allergy clinicians have yet to adopt this optimal therapy.
Updated Asthma Guidelines By 2021, both the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and Global Initiative for Asthma had updated their guidelines to recommend the use of a S ingle combination corticosteroid (ICS) and formoterol (a long acting beta agonist) inhaler for both M aintenance A nd R elief T herapy for moderate to severe asthma, or SMART. In the United States, ICS-formoterol inhalers include Symbicort (budesonide-formoterol) and Dulera (mometasone-formoterol). Under the SMART guidelines, these inhalers are used as both maintenance, twice every day, and rescue inhalers, used during asthma attacks.
SMART has been shown to .
