Complications and Healthcare Resource Utilization Associated with Systemic Corticosteroids in Children and Adolescents with Persistent Asthma

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Limited comparative data are available on impact of systemic corticosteroid (SCS) use in children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE To determine if asthmatic children and adolescents treated with SCS have a higher likelihood of developing complications versus those not receiving SCS and to examine healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) in this population. METHODS A retrospective study of children and adolescents with persistent asthma in the 2000–2017 MarketScan database, a large US health claims data set. Propensity score matching was used to pair patients in the SCS and control cohorts. For complications, SCS subgroups (≥4 or 1–3 annual prescriptions) were compared with asthmatic controls without SCS using logistic regression; and for HCRU, cohorts were compared using negative binomial regression. RESULTS 67,081 patients were included (SCS: 23,898; control: 43,183). The odds of having a complication were 2.9 (95% CI 2.5–3.2; P CONCLUSION Children and adolescents receiving SCS for persistent asthma have an increased risk of developing complications and have greater HCRU in the first year of follow-up versus those without SCS exposure.