Many asthmatic patients have significant nasal problems and proper management requires treatment of both the upper and the lower airway disease. Abstract 9 shows that a pharmacist can improve the management of a chronic condition like asthma in an HMO setting. Abstract 10 shows the benefit of an asthma education program. Abstract 11 indicates that long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids is not totally free of risk. Post-menopausal women, already risk for osteoporosis, may when on steroids get loss of bone mineral density.
Risk is related to dose.
In 1991, a study was conducted to compare acute care utilization before and 1 year after the ATC intervention. The 4 variables evaluated were the numbers of. Retrospective chart review. The evaluation period was 1 year before the ATC visit and up to 7 years after. Each of the 4 variables was evaluated based on its utilization per patient per year.