Dr. Liam G. Heaney and colleagues form the Queen’s University of Belfast, Northern Ireland have found that about five percent of adults with asthma have a condition that is difficult to control. Their study further showed that symptoms and frequent flare-ups remained persistent even if prescribed with high doses of steroids.

This, the team found out is due to non-adherence to their anti-asthma medication as prescribed by their doctor.

Dr. Heaney’s team studied several patients with asthma at the Northern Ireland Regional Difficult Asthma Service. All patients initially denied non-adherence to their anti-asthma therapy. The team discovered that 35% of the patients finished no more than half of their inhaled steroids.

Among those using oral prednisolone, 45% showed that they are non-adherent as indicated by blood tests results.

After showing these results to the patients under study, 88 percent of them finally admitted their poor compliance.

Furthermore, researchers noted that women were more likely to be lax in taking their asthma controller medication as prescribed. This observation was published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Heaney and colleagues concluded that if patients take regular preventive therapy for their asthma, their condition would improve significantly.

From Reuters Health:

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with difficult-to-control asthma are often not taking their anti-asthma medication as prescribed by their doctor, new study findings indicate.