New Zealand researchers have found that children with mild asthma benefit more from using an as needed budesonide–formoterol inhaler compared to the traditional salbutamol (albuterol) reliever therapy.
According to the study, “Budesonide–Formoterol Versus Salbutamol as Reliever Therapy in Children With Mild Asthma (CARE): A 52-Week, Open-Label, Multicenter, Superiority, Randomized Controlled Trial,” published in The Lancet, the results were significant. The 52-week trial involved 360 children between the ages of 5 and 15 years old who were previously using short-acting β2-agonist (SABA) monotherapy. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either budesonide 50 µg–formoterol 3 µg or salbutamol 100 µg, both administered as two actuations as needed.
The results showed a significant reduction in asthma attacks among those using the budesonide–formoterol combination. The annualized rate of attacks was 0.23 per participant in the budesonide–formoterol group, compared to 0.41 in the salbutamol group, a relative rate reduction of 45%.
“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,” Andrew Bush, a senior respiratory pediatrician at Imperial College in London and co-author of the CARE study said in a press release. “We believe this will transform asthma care worldwide and are excited to be building on this work with the CARE U.K. study.”
Safety profiles were similar between the two groups, with 91% of children in the budesonide–formoterol group and 92% in the salbutamol group experiencing at least one adverse event.
Researchers concluded that budesonide–formoterol reliever monotherapy is superior to salbutamol in preventing asthma attacks in children with mild asthma, without increasing safety risks.
“Implementing these findings could be transformative for asthma management on a global scale,” Richard Beasley, MD, MBChB, FRACP, FRCP (London), FERS, DSc, CNZM, said in a press release. Dr. Beasley is director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) and senior author of the study. “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.”
The study was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Cure Kids New Zealand and the Barbara Basham Medical Charitable Trust.
