Author: team REG

! IMPORTANT – REG Summit 2020 Postponed

IMPORTANT NOTICE! REG Summit 2020 is being postponed

It is with regret that we must inform you that the REG Summit 2020 due to take place from 19- 21 March must be postponed to a future date due to the outbreak and the rapid spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).

During the past weeks, we have been following the unfolding COVID-19 Virus situation closely, together with the current recommendations of the health authorities. As our priority is always the health, welfare and overall comfort of our delegates, we weighed the pros and cons and decided to opt for the postponement option, so as not to jeopardise this important meeting.

We hope you understand this procedure and we deeply apologise for any inconvenience caused. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for your support
REG Summit Organising Committee

New Publication: The relationship between real-world inhaled corticosteroids adherence and asthma outcomes: a multilevel approach

The REG Adherence Working Group has recently published a paper in JACI in practice that investigates the relationship between ICS implementation and asthma-related outcomes, considering bidirectionality and temporal sequence.

Primary care records of 10,472 asthma patients from the Optimum Patient Care Research Database (www.opcrd.co.uk) were used. For each prescription interval (period between two successive prescriptions) in the 2-year outcome period ICS implementation (percentage of days covered) and Risk Domain Asthma Control (RDAC; no moderate or severe exacerbations) were estimated.

ICS implementation in the preceding prescription interval did not predict RDAC, but that ICS implementation was weakly positively associated with simultaneous RDAC. Being male, non-current smoker, without a COPD diagnosis and having <4 comorbidities significantly increased odds of RDAC. Asthma-related antibiotic prescriptions and asthma-related outpatient visits in the same interval, and SABA overuse in the preceding and same interval predicted lower ICS implementation.

The lack of an association between ICS implementation and RDAC in consecutive intervals may suggest that patients may adapt their ICS use to meet their current needs without this impacting their later RDAC.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213219819307809

The Real Life EVidence AssessmeNt Tool: RELEVANT

REG, in collaboration with the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI), have created a new tool (RELEVANT) to aid the appraisal of real life observational research. In April 2019, two papers detailing the methodology and use of RELEVANT were published in Clinical and Translational Allergy.

The RELEVANT tool was developed through literature review and synthesis and then iterative refinement of the tool. Multiple pilots were conducted, followed by validation using selected asthma research questions for which randomised controlled trials provided limited evidence.

The RELEVANT tool enables quality appraisal of published comparative effectiveness literature. RELEVANT has two tiers of criteria; primary criteria, all of which must be met to be considered suitable for use in guideline development; and secondary criteria, which allow further evaluation of the quality of a publication. The tool will therefore be useful for guideline developers, clinicians and researchers for assessing published literature or as a publication checklist. REG is proud to advance the acceptance of real life observational research in guideline development.

RELEVANT tool: https://www.regresearchnetwork.org/relevant-tool-2/

RELEVANT publications:

https://ctajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13601-019-0256-9

https://ctajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13601-019-0255-x