Statement of Need
According to the National Center for Health Statistics 2002 survey, current asthma prevalence in US adults 18 years and over is 68 per 1,000 equating to 14 million adults.

Effective modern treatment of asthma is about using the right dose of asthma medication at the right time. It is vitally important to the patient to stop or prevent an asthma attack before it takes hold so that the patient can live a normal life, without using more medication than needed.

A recent study by Dr. Aalbers, et al reported that “patients see exacerbations as a threat, which makes them uncertain about their disease and their treatment. With their therapy poorly controlled patients perceive that they are unwell regardless of whether or not they use medication.”² Intervention by a healthcare provider can reduce the incidence of exacerbations which will translate into a tremendous improvement in treatment outcomes as well an improvement in the patients' confidence in their treatment.

Because of their unique accessibility and extensive knowledge about medications, pharmacists fulfill a major role in ensuring patients understand and properly take their medicines. According to the 2005 NCPA Digest, community pharmacists discuss drug therapy with prescribers, on average, more than eight times a day.

Pharmacists, therefore, are uniquely positioned on the front line to counsel asthma patients on appropriate medication use and how to avoid exacerbations by taking the right dose at the right time of their prescribed drugs so they will always be confident of their treatment.

Learning Objectives

Upon successful completion of this activity, the pharmacist should be able to:

1. Discuss the pathophysiology, assessment, diagnosis and treatment of asthma.
2. Review the current medications indicated for adult asthma including appropriate dosing and side effects.
3. Review the current asthma medication delivery devices.
4. Discuss how to start an asthma clinic including disease management in the adult asthmatic.
5. Describe effective medication utilization strategies.


6. Outline how a pharmacist can be reimbursed for these services.

Target Audience
The target market for this program is pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

The Statement of Credit should be printed upon receipt; a duplicate copy will be available in the participant's online transcript for further viewing. Individuals must complete this program by October 9, 2009 to receive credit.

There is no fee to participate in this program.

NCPA® is approved by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. This program will provide 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs) of continuing pharmacy education credit under the number 207-000-06-163-H01.