Asthma guidelines recommend titrating maintenance medications to the lowest effective dose. This study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of reducing the frequency of dosing in patients previously controlled with twice-daily budesonide/formoterol (BUD/FM) pressurized metered-dose inhaler (pMDI) to once-daily regimens of BUD/FM pMDI or BUD pMDI. This was a 12-week, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo (PBO)/active-controlled, multicenter study (N = 752) of patients aged > or =16 years with mild to moderate asthma. After 4-5 weeks on single-blind BUD/FM pMDI 160/9 micrograms twice daily (320/18 micrograms daily), patients with stable asthma received BUD/FM pMDI 160/9 micrograms twice daily (320/18 micrograms daily; morning and evening), BUD/FM pMDI 320/9 micrograms once daily (evening), BUD/FM pMDI 160/9 micrograms once daily (evening), BUD pMDI 320 micrograms once daily (evening), or PBO. BUD/FM (once or twice daily) was more effective (p < or = 0.003) than BUD and PBO on evening peak expiratory flow (primary variable), morning pulmonary function assessments, daily symptoms, and nighttime rescue medication use. Twice-daily BUD/FM was more effective (p < or = 0.05) than both once-daily doses for evening pulmonary function assessments and daytime rescue medication use. All treatments were well tolerated. Once- or twice-daily BUD/FM showed better efficacy than BUD once daily or PBO; results generally were more favorable with twice-daily dosing compared with both once-daily dosing regimens, which had one-half the daily FM dose.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00652392.