A Comparison of International Guidelines for Pediatric Asthma Pharmacotherapy

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: International institutes such as Global institute for Asthma(GINA), KAAACI(Republic of Korea), NHLBI(USA), BTS(UK) and JSA(Japan) have published guidelines for asthma treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the representatives' international guidelines of pharmacotherapy for pediatric asthma. METHODS: The recommendations related to pharmacotherapy for pediatric asthma were extracted from the latest representatives' international guidelines, and comprehensive comparisons were conducted. RESULTS: Major comparison outcomes between international guidelines were evaluated as follows: classification system on severity and pediatric age group, recommendation for inhaled corticosteroid dose, recommendation for pediatric age group of theophylline in mild asthma, and recommendation for pediatric age group of tiotropium in severe asthma. Clinical trials emphasized the adverse effects of theophylline, whereas tiotropium demonstrated beneficial actions for pediatric asthma. Therefore, theophylline was recommended for older patients with persistent asthma, and tiotropium was considered to be suitable for younger patients with severe asthma according to GINA guidelines. CONCLUSION: These findings address the requirement to harmonize international guidelines of pharmacotherapy in pediatric asthma. In addition, the findings suggest that KAAACI needs to update its pharmacotherapy guidelines of theophylline, tiotropium and other medicines recently approved.