Asthma medication use and health care utilization evolution during pandemic times

Abstract

Pediatric asthma care was significantly impacted by the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic, with significant decline in asthma health care utilization noted early in the pandemic. We compared Emergency Department (ED) utilization rates and prescription fill rates of controller and quick relief asthma medications between March and December 2020 versus 2021 in a county-specific pediatric Medicaid population to evaluate for changes later in the pandemic. Our data showed an increase in ED utilization by 46.7% (p-.0371) in the second year of the pandemic. There was no significant change in prescription fills for reliever medications (p-.1309) during this time with increased ED utilization for asthma but there was a significant decline in controller medication fills (p-.0039). This data suggests a potential explanation for resurgence of asthma health care utilization because of decreased controller medication fill and use during a time frame that also saw increased viral positivity rates. The poor medication adherence rates despite this increase in ED visits suggests that new interventions may be needed to assist patients with asthma medication adherence.