Authors' recommendations: Prevalence of respiratory diseases (primarily asthma and COPD) in the NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds region is above the national average. Hospital admissions and associated resource use has risen substantially. There is evidence that risk of admission for asthma can be almost three times higher for people of South Asian background. Anecdotal evidence from local clinicians also suggests that some patients from minority ethnic populations (particularly those of South Asian heritage) are reluctant to use inhalers for cultural reasons. Given that the ethnic minority population is above the national average, understanding and addressing this issue could contribute to improved management and outcomes for respiratory disease locally. There is some albeit limited evidence that culture-specific asthma education programmes for minority populations can improve some outcomes. However, the small number of trials included and the fact that only one was from a UK setting make the relevance of the findings uncertain. The evidence for interventions to improve medication adherence in asthma and/or COPD is fairly extensive but only a few trials have reported improvements in both adherence and treatment outcomes. NICE guidance on medication adherence states that the evidence is inconclusive and interventions should only be used in response to a specific need. There is a substantial amount of existing evidence that could be used to inform decision-making in this area. Interpretation of the evidence is made more difficult by the complexity and intensity of many of the interventions and uncertainty about the generalisability of findings to the local population. This briefing has been produced for background purposes rather than to inform a specific decision. We would be happy to undertake a more detailed assessment to support implementation of a specific intervention as required.

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2012

URL for published report: http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/crd/pdf/Evidence%20briefing%20on%20adherence%20to%20treatment%20for%20respiratory%20diseases.pdf

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England

Organisation Name: University of York

Contact Address: University of York, York, Y01 5DD, United Kingdom. Tel: +44 1904 321040, Fax: +44 1904 321041,

Contact Name: crd@york.ac.uk

Contact Email: crd@york.ac.uk

Copyright: University of York