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Laura P. Shone, DrPH, MSW; Peter G. Szilagyi, MD, MPH

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(2):184-186.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children, affecting 8% to 12% or 6.1 to 8.9 million children in the United States¹ and worldwide.² Despite the high prevalence of asthma, both preventive treatment with controller medications and acute treatment of exacerbations with rescue medications including bronchodilators or oral corticosteroids are effective.³ Consensus guidelines for disease management exist⁴ and disease outcomes are measurable. These characteristics make asthma an ideal sentinel condition for monitoring the effects of cost-sharing on the use of prescription drugs as well as other medical services.

In their article titled "Effect of Cost-Sharing on Use of Asthma Medication in Children," Ungar et al⁵ report that higher cost-sharing for asthma medications was associated with significantly decreased use of both preventive and rescue medications. This is a provocative finding for children in Canada, with implications about the potential effect . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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RELATED ARTICLE

Effect of Cost-Sharing on Use of Asthma Medication in Children
Wendy J. Ungar, Anita Kozyrskyj, Michael Paterson, and Fida Ahmad
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2008;162(2):104-110.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT