Inhaled tiotropium was shown to be a safe and effective therapy for adolescents with asthma in a new study.
In the study, researchers conducted a systematic review of placebo-controlled, randomized trials based on the use of inhaled tiotropium in adolescents experiencing moderate to severe asthma. In total, three studies were considered, comprising 895 patients aged 12 to 18 years. The primary outcome was defined as improvements in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), an important measure of pulmonary function.
Researchers found that tiotropium therapy was associated with a significant improvement in FEV1 in comparison to patients under a placebo treatment. In addition, tiotropium was also found to reduce the number of patients experiencing a worse asthma exacerbation or episode, and also the number of patients with at least one exacerbation in comparison to patients in the placebo group. The team found no significant differences between tiotropium therapy and placebo in terms of rescue medication use, withdrawals, adverse events and serious adverse events. Tiotropium has been administered in doses of 2.5 or 5.0 ?g once daily, with both drug regimens yielding similar clinical outcomes.
The research team concluded that tiotropium is well-tolerated by asthma patients and it could be considered an effective additional therapy in adolescents with moderate to severe asthma.
