Preventive asthma medication discontinuation among children enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid

Objective: Local-area studies demonstrate that preventive asthma medication discontinuation among Medicaid and Children’s-Health-Insurance-Program (CHIP) enrolled children leads to adverse outcomes. We assessed time-to-discontinuation for preventive asthma medication and its risk factors among fee-for-service Medicaid/CHIP child beneficiaries. Methods: National-Health-Interview-Survey participants (1997–2005) with ≥1 Medicaid- or CHIP-paid claims when 2–17 years old (n?=?4262) were linked to Medicaid-Analytic-eXtract claims (1999–2008). Multivariate Cox proportional-hazards models to assess time-to-discontinuation (i.e. failing to refill prescriptions <30?d after previous supplies ran out) included demographic factors and medication regimen (inhaled corticosteroids [ICS], long-acting β₂-agonists, leukotriene modifiers, mast cell stabilizers, and monoclonal antibodies). Results: Sixty-three percent discontinued preventive asthma medications by 90?d after the first prescription. Adolescents and toddlers had slightly higher hazards of discontinuation (adjusted hazard ratios [aHR], 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05–1.23; and 1.12; 1.03–1.21, respectively) versus 5–11-year-olds, as did Hispanics (aHR, 1.24; 1.13–1.35) and non-Hispanic blacks (aHR, 1.17; 1.07–1.28) versus non-Hispanic whites, children in households with one adult and ≥3 children (aHR, 1.17; 1.05–1.30) versus multiple adults and ≤2 children, and children with caregivers’ educational-attainment ≤12th grade (aHR, 1.11; 1.02–1.20) versus caregivers with some college. Compared to regimens including both ICS and leukotriene modifiers, discontinuation was greater for those on ICS without leukotriene modifiers or on other preventive asthma medications (aHR, 1.67; 1.56–1.80; and 2.23; 1.78–2.80, respectively). Conclusion: More than 60% of children enrolled in fee-for-service Medicaid/CHIP discontinued preventive asthma medications by 90?d. Risk was increased for minorities and children from disadvantaged households. Understanding these factors may inform future pediatric asthma guidelines.