Table 2 Treatment steps for the control intervention. More details in relation to the treatment steps are provided in Appendix 1; a detailed decision tree is shown in Appendix 2
Treatment step | Daily ICS dose μg budesonide or equivalent | Delivery device used prior to enrolment used after enrolment | |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0 | No ICS | Short-acting beta-agonist (SABA) as required only |
2 | 200 | Very low dose ICS | Budesonide (or equivalent) 100 μg twice daily plus SABA |
3 | 400 | Low dose ICS | Budesonide (or equivalent) 200 μg twice daily plus SABA |
4 | 400 | ICS + long-acting beta-agonist (LABA) combination inhaler | Budesonide (or equivalent) 200 μg twice daily plus SABA and LABA (dose depending on ICS molecule used) |
5 | 400 | Add on leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA)‡ | Budesonide (or equivalent) 200 μg twice daily plus SABA, LABA and LTRA |
6 | 800 | High dose ICS | Budesonide (or equivalent) 400 μg twice daily plus SABA, LABA (dose depending on ICS molecule used) and LTRA |
7 For 12–16 year olds (go to step 8 for children < 12) | 1600 | High dose ICS | Budesonide (or equivalent) 800 μg twice daily plus SABA, LABA and LTRA |
8 | Refer for specialist opinion | ||