Individualizing Treatment for Asthma in Primary Care

Design. Current activities consist of a Feasibility study to test all activities prior to the full study. The Feasibility study will involve only 5 centers and each participant will be involved for only 3 months. The study will consist of a four arm, patient level randomized trial (N=125). Comparators: Rescue Inhaled Corticosteroids (R-ICS) versus azithromycin versus R-ICS plus azithromycin versus enhanced usual care patients. All arms will include home monitoring of asthma symptoms using various approaches. R-ICS therapy will consist of a corticosteriod/formoterol inhaler, or a stand-alone ICS inhaler used with usual rescue therapy or when available a combination corticosteroid/albuterol inhaler, the initial azithromycin dose will be 500mg (10mg/Kg) three times a week and may be titrated down to 250mg (10mg/Kg) three times per week for side effects. Exacerbations will be blindly adjudicated. Individuals who experience three exacerbations in < 12 months in the full study will have their treatments "stepped-up,"unless in the dual treatment arm; control participants going to R-ICS and single therapy participants to dual therapy. In the full study, after a step-up participants will be followed for an additional 12 months. There will be no step-up during the Feasibility phase. Individuals completing either of the azithromycin arms will be offered 6 additional months of follow-up after stopping the azithromycin only.

Inclusion criteria

• A clinical asthma diagnosis for at least 1 year;
• 12-75 years of age;
• A current ACT total score of <20 OR an exacerbation requiring 72 hours or more of parenteral steroids or a hospitalization of at least 24 hours > 30 days and < 365 days prior to enrollment;
• Able to provide consent (adolescents: assent) in English or Spanish; (i.e., cognitively impaired individuals are deemed not to be able to provide consent and thus do not meet inclusion criteria.)
• Patients with a coexisting clinical diagnosis of COPD are eligible if they meet any one of the following criteria: (i) Never smoker without secondary lung disease causing airway obstruction. (ii) Current or former smoker with obstruction on PFTs, but normal diffusing capacity of the lungs for carbon monoxide (DLCO) in the past 24 months.

Exclusion criteria

• Life expectancy <1 year (operationalized by the question to the patient's asthma care clinician "Would you be surprised if this person died in the next 12 months? If yes - include, if no - exclude);
• No ICS prescribed for the individual (does not have to be using the ICS inhaler);
• Active treatment for hematological or solid organ cancer other than basal cell or skin squamous cell cancer;
• Allergy to macrolides or conditions for which macrolide administration may possibly be hazardous (e.g., acute or chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, or other liver disease; end-stage renal disease; uncorrected hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia; clinically significant bradycardia; or history of prolonged cardiac repolarization and QT interval or torsades de pointes);
• On daily or every other day oral steroids for any reason;
• Currently on R-ICS or AZ therapy. Individuals on biologics can be enrolled if they have been on a stable dose for > 6 months and meet the ACT or exacerbation criteria as well as all other criteria.
• On a medication with known risk (i.e., that is associated with prolonged QT and associated with torsades de pointes even when taken as recommended) or possible risk (i.e., can cause prolonged QT but lacks evidence for risk of torsades de pointes when taken as recommended) - Full lists in Appendix 1.
• Specified medications for which close monitoring has been recommended in the setting of macrolide administration (digoxin, warfarin, theophylline, ergotamine or dihydroergotamine, cyclosporine, hexobarbital, phenytoin or nelfinavir).