Comparison between the effects of two treatment regimens from GINA guidelines step 3 on quality of life and inflammatory biomarkers of pediatric asthmatic patients: an observational study

Abstract

Background: Asthma is a complicated condition characterized by chronic airway inflammation and airflow restriction, resulting in various respiratory symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing, and chest tightness. The research intended to evaluate and compare the clinical outcomes of two interchangeable treatment regimens administered to a group of Iraqi asthmatic children. Methods: This observational clinical study was conducted on a sample of pediatric Iraqi asthmatic patients in the central pediatric hospital in Baghdad. The study enrolled asthmatic children with moderate persistent asthma, who a specialized physician had diagnosed. Patients had been allocated to two groups to receive either medium doses of beclomethasone inhaler (80 μg twice a day) for group one, or low doses (40 μg twice a day) plus montelukast chewable tablets (5 mg once daily) for group two. This study used the Child Health Survey–child version (CHS–child version) to investigate the quality of life of included patients. Also, this study investigated the inflammatory blood markers; (eosinophils and prostaglandin D2).   Results: This research included 63 patients ranging in age from 7 to 11 years, with a slight male preponderance: group one patients (n=30) and group two patients (n=33). Compared with baseline levels, the study groups had considerably higher quality of life scores at the first follow-up visit (P<0.05). After that, the two groups' scores were non-significantly higher at the second follow-up visit compared with the first follow-up visit (P>0.05). Both groups significantly improved inflammatory biomarkers at the first follow-up visit (P <0.05). The second follow-up visit revealed further improvement in both groups. Conclusion: This research found that both groups generated substantial improvements in study parameters compared with baseline values and that the second group, which included a beclomethasone inhaler with montelukast, was associated with the highest degree of improvement in terms of quality-of-life ratings.