Adherence to Intranasal Corticosteroids Is Low in Patients With Chronic Rhinosinusitis and Nasal Polyps

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps might not adhere to prescribed intranasal corticosteroids, according to a small retrospective, observational study.

To conduct their study, the researchers searched electronic medical records from 2016 to 2019 at a single hospital in Spain for “nasal polyps” or “nasal polyposis.” Inclusion criteria for the analysis included patients with chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps who were diagnosed via nasal endoscopy (N = 789) and were prescribed intranasal corticosteroids. Then, prescription fills were tracked from January 2019 to December 2019 and compared with prescriptions written.

Results showed that 248 participants were prescribed intranasal corticosteroids in 2019. Of those, 7 did not collect any prescription bottles, 12 collected more bottles than prescribed, 40 collected 90% to 100% of their prescribed bottles, 83 collected 50% to 90% of their prescribed bottles, and 106 collected less than 50% of the prescribed bottles.

Age, years since diagnosis, polyp stage, and history of systemic corticosteroid use did not significantly impact the results.

“In summary, in our study [intranasal corticosteroid] adherence was low, similar with other studies: 43% of patients had less than 50% of adherence despite the low cost of these prescriptions. This rate is similar to that recorded by the WHO for other chronic diseases as asthma, which on nonadherence ranges from 6–44% ... Our findings show better results, as 97% of the study population withdrew at least 1 bottle,” the researchers concluded.

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Valverde-Monge M, Barroso B, Ortega-Martin L, et al. Exploring adherence to treatment in nasal polyposis. J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol. Published online ahead of print: September 3, 2021. https://doi.org/10.18176/jiaci.0752