OBJECTIVES: To describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, treatment regimen, asthma-related healthcare resources utilization (HCRU), and disease control of asthma patients at GINA’s steps 3 to 5; and compare patients according to OCS use.

METHODS: EmOCS is a cross-sectional study conducted in Portuguese community pharmacies. Adult asthma patients (≥18 years) using (1) a high-dose ICS/LABA; or (2) a medium-dose ICS/LABA plus another controller treatment; or (3) an ICS (any dose) plus an OCS for asthma were invited to participate upon written consent. Data was collected in two parts: (1) paper-based interview at the pharmacy (patient sociodemographic characteristics and asthma treatment regimen); (2) telephone-based interview (smoking history, comorbidities, BMI, HCRU in the previous 12 months, and asthma control – CARAT®).

RESULTS: From November 3^rd, 2020 to June 14^th, 2021, 98 community pharmacies recruited and collected data from 347 eligible patients. Of these, 328 (94.5%) also completed the phone interview. Overall, 71.7% of the ICS/LABA treated patients were female with an average age of 59.3 years (SD=15.5). Most individuals were using a high-dose (85.9%) or a medium-dose (13.8%) ICS/LABA and 24.9% had been exposed to OCS in the previous year. Significantly higher proportions (p<0.05) of patients on OCS reported conjunctivitis (33.3% vs. 18.6%), osteoporosis (33.3% vs. 16.6%), arthritis (19.1% vs. 8.5%), and gastrointestinal disease (20.6% vs. 10.1%), compared to non-OCS treated. A third (33.3%) of OCS patients had 1+ unscheduled consultations and 32.1% had 1+ ER visits due to asthma (9.3% and 12.1% for non-OCS treated, respectively; p<0.001). Disease control was generally poor, predominantly among those on OCS (CARAT® score<25: 85.2%, vs. 72.9% in non-users; p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Despite medium/high daily doses of ICS, many patients at GINA’S higher treatment steps still required treatment with OCS. Patients on OCS had poorer asthma outcomes compared to those without OCS in terms of disease control, HCRU, and OCS-related comorbidities.