Results
Children’s baseline demographics and clinical characteristics are shown
in Table 1 (nTotal=143, 41% females,
nDPI group=65, nMDI group=77; one
participant was excluded from the analysis due to the simultaneous usage
of both device types). Children in the DPI group were significantly
older than the MDI group (12.8\(\pm\)2.2 and 10.8\(\pm\)3, respectively;
p-value<0.001). There was no significant difference in sex
between the DPI and MDI groups. Regarding ethnicity, a higher proportion
of children were European (Caucasian) in the DPI group compared to the
MDI group (86% versus 70%). There was a significant difference between
the two groups in the country of inclusion (p-value < 0.001).
Children in the MDI group were more often included in Germany (42%) and
only one participant was included from Slovenia. However, in the DPI
group, patients were often recruited in Spain (42%), and a few patients
(9%) in Germany. The two groups had no differences in asthma control
status (controlled versus uncontrolled) and (childhood) asthma control
test ((c)ACT 30,31) scores. However, patients in the
MDI group had more often severe asthma (steps 4 and 5 based on GINA
guidelines 1) compared to the DPI group (66% versus
40% had severe asthma). Both FEV1 % predicted before
and after salbutamol were higher in the MDI group compared to the DPI
group. Children in the MDI group took higher ICS dosages and had higher
daily intervals than those in the DPI group. Most of the children
(93.5%) in the MDI group used a spacer while using MDI devices. There
were no differences in medication adherence between the two groups, and
most of the children reported being adherent to medication based on the
MARS-5 questionnaire. 32 The inhaler technique score
was lower in the MDI group than in the DPI group. However, 45% and 17%
of the data for inhaler technique were missed (NA) for MDI and DPI
groups, respectively.