Short-term outcomes after implementation of SABA-free asthma management with a maintenance and anti-inflammatory reliever regimen within primary care

<bold>Introduction</bold>: Short-acting β-2 agonist(SABA) overuse adversely affects astham-related outcomes and the environment. The latest GINA report no longer recommends SABA only therapy. Since 2020, we have implemented an inhaled coticosterioid(ICS)-containing reliever strategy for our moderately severe aasthmatics within our practice population. We only administered budesonide/formoterol(BUD/FORM) via a single device (MART) across this cohort and eliminated the use of SABA. <bold>Methods:</bold> Our Asthma registry revealed 195 patients in the cohort. All patients were invited for assessment and 101 patients agreed to this new strategy (MART + simultaneous anti-inflammatory releiver[AIR]. The remaining 94 patients continued with MART and SABA inhalers. Both groups were followed up for 24 months. <bold>Results:</bold> There were no deaths in either groups. Asthma related hospitalizations fell by 89% in the SABA free group (p<0.001). Exacerabations requiring oral corticosteroids(OCS) fell by 72.4% in the SABA free group over the 24 month period (p<0.05). 97.5% of the SABA free group remained SABA free at the end of the 24 months and were prescribed on average 4.9 cannisters of BUD/FORM per eyar compared to 6.12 cannisters in the MART + SABA groups (p<0.001) <bold>Conclusions:</bold> This data provides real world evidence that use of MART/AIR with BUD/FORM simultaneously with elimination of SABA is safe and effective for moderate asthmatics within primary care