Publications

BACKGROUND

Studies have suggested an association between frequent acetaminophen use and asthma-related complications among children, leading some physicians to recommend that acetaminophen be avoided in children with asthma; however, appropriately designed trials evaluating this association in children are lacking.

METHODS

In a multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group trial, we enrolled 300 children (age range, 12 to 59 months) with mild persistent asthma and assigned them to receive either acetaminophen or ibuprofen when needed for the alleviation of fever or pain over the course of 48 weeks. The primary outcome was the number of asthma exacerbations that led to treatment with systemic glucocorticoids. Children in both groups received standardized asthma-controller therapies that were used in a simultaneous, factorially linked trial.

RESULTS

Participants received a median of 5.5 doses (interquartile range, 1.0 to 15.0) of trial medication; there was no significant between-group difference in the median number of doses received (P=0.47). The number of asthma exacerbations did not differ significantly between the two groups, with a mean of 0.81 per participant with acetaminophen and 0.87 per participant with ibuprofen over 46 weeks of follow-up (relative rate of asthma exacerbations in the acetaminophen group vs. the ibuprofen group, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.69 to 1.28; P=0.67). In the acetaminophen group, 49% of participants had at least one asthma exacerbation and 21% had at least two, as compared with 47% and 24%, respectively, in the ibuprofen group. Similarly, no significant differences were detected between acetaminophen and ibuprofen with respect to the percentage of asthma-control days (85.8% and 86.8%, respectively; P=0.50), use of an albuterol rescue inhaler (2.8 and 3.0 inhalations per week, respectively; P=0.69), unscheduled health care utilization for asthma (0.75 and 0.76 episodes per participant, respectively; P=0.94), or adverse events.

CONCLUSIONS

Among young children with mild persistent asthma, as-needed use of acetaminophen was not shown to be associated with a higher incidence of asthma exacerbations or worse asthma control than was as-needed use of ibuprofen. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health; AVICA ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01606319.).

Distressing symptoms are associated with poor function, acute care use, and mortality in older adults. The number of older jail inmates is increasing rapidly, prompting calls to develop systems of care to meet their healthcare needs, yet little is known about multidimensional symptom burden in this population. This cross-sectional study describes the prevalence and factors associated with distressing symptoms and the overlap between different forms of symptom distress in 125 older jail inmates in an urban county jail. Physical distress was assessed using the Memorial Symptom Assessment Scale. Several other forms of symptom distress were also examined, including psychological (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire), existential (Patient Dignity Inventory), and social (Three Item Loneliness Scale). Information was collected on participant sociodemographic characteristics, multimorbidity, serious mental illness (SMI), functional impairment, and behavioral health risk factors through self-report and chart review. Chi-square tests were used to identify factors associated with physical distress. Overlap between forms of distress was evaluated using set theory analysis. Overall, many participants (74%) reported distressing symptoms, including having one or more physical (44%), psychological (37%), existential (54%), or social (45%) symptoms. Physical distress was associated with poor health (multimorbidity, functional impairment, SMI) and low income. Of the 93 participants with any symptom, 49% reported three or more forms of distress. These findings suggest that an optimal model of care for this population would include a geriatrics-palliative care approach that integrates the management of all forms of symptom distress into a comprehensive treatment paradigm stretching from jail to the community.