Long-term effects of asthma medication on asthma symptoms: an application of the targeted maximum likelihood estimation

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Carolin Veit - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Ronald Herrera - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Gudrun Weinmayr - , Ulm University (Author)
  • Jon Genuneit - , Ulm University, Leipzig University (Author)
  • Doris Windstetter - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Christian Vogelberg - , Department of Paediatrics, TUD Dresden University of Technology (Author)
  • Erika von Mutius - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Dennis Nowak - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Katja Radon - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Jessica Gerlich - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)
  • Tobias Weinmann - , Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (Author)

Abstract

Background: Long-term effectiveness of asthma control medication has been shown in clinical trials but results from observational studies with children and adolescents are lacking. Marginal structural models estimated using targeted maximum likelihood methods are a novel statistiscal approach for such studies as it allows to account for time-varying confounders and time-varying treatment. Therefore, we aimed to calculate the long-term risk of reporting asthma symptoms in relation to control medication use in a real-life setting from childhood to adulthood applying targeted maximum likelihood estimation. Methods: In the prospective cohort study SOLAR (Study on Occupational Allergy Risks) we followed a German subsample of 121 asthmatic children (9–11 years old) of the ISAAC II cohort (International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood) until the age of 19 to 24. We obtained self-reported questionnaire data on asthma control medication use at baseline (1995–1996) and first follow-up (2002–2003) as well as self-reported asthma symptoms at baseline, first and second follow-up (2007–2009). Three hypothetical treatment scenarios were defined: early sustained intervention, early unsustained intervention and no treatment at all. We performed longitudinal targeted maximum likelihood estimation combined with Super Learner algorithm to estimate the relative risk (RR) to report asthma symptoms at SOLAR I and SOLAR II in relation to the different hypothetical scenarios. Results: A hypothetical intervention of early sustained treatment was associated with a statistically significant risk increment of asthma symptoms at second follow-up when compared to no treatment at all (RR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.19–1.83) or early unsustained intervention (RR:1.38, 95% CI: 1.11–1.65). Conclusions: While we could confirm the tagerted maximum likelihood estimation to be a usable and robust statistical tool, we did not observe a beneficial effect of asthma control medication on asthma symptoms. Because of potential due to the small sample size, lack of data on disease severity and reverse causation our results should, however, be interpreted with caution.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number307
JournalBMC Medical research methodology
Volume20
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 33327942

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Adolescents, Asthma, Children, Control medication, Marginal structural models, Targeted-maximum likelihood estimation