The benefits and risks of this treatment (theme 4)
| RCT group | Quotation |
| 5.1 Perceptions of regimen benefit | |
| 5.1.1 Regimen perceived as effective: | |
| Maintenance | ‘It’s just made me feel better in myself, knowing that I can do things more, ‘cause I don't have to worry about ‘Well I can't do this just in case I get asthma'.’ (ID100) |
| As-needed combination | ‘I'm really thrilled because I can see just how much better it works, how I feel afterwards and I can just carry on. [Asthma’s] not affecting me, you know, my life now…’ (ID87) |
| 5.1.2 Inability to perceive a benefit from adding a preventer medication: | |
| Maintenance | ‘I didn't really see much of an improvement in my triggers like hiking, cold air, flu when I was taking it really regularly when I started the study…I don't do stuff just because I'm told it’s good for me, like I've got to feel like there’s actually some benefit of it…[My use] just kind of dropped off… it just wasn't really feeling that there was any difference’ (ID66) |
| As-needed combination | ‘Every two, three weeks during winter, I have like asthma [symptoms], so I don’t think that the maintenance type [medication works]… it quickly stops the asthma [symptoms] but it doesn’t really stop the asthma [occurring again later].’ (ID02) |
| 5.1.3 As-needed combination inhaler had less overall relief action or less speed of action than past relievers: | |
| As-needed combination | ‘I feel that compared to some other inhalers, it does take a little while to kick in as a reliever…whereas some other [reliever] inhalers I feel as soon as I take it I feel an instant relief… I’d probably say with my other ones it’s usually pretty instant, so within maybe 30 seconds, where the [study] one maybe takes a couple of minutes.’ (ID21) |
| 5.2 Perceptions of regimen risk | |
| 5.2.1 Concern about corticosteroid-related weight gain did not affect medication use: | |
| Maintenance | ‘I was a bit concerned because I believe [steroids], can make you put on weight. But I was told it wouldn’t because it’s only a tiny amount, but because I take it in [nasal spray for hay fever] as well I was slightly concerned about that’ (ID84) |
| 5.2.2 Experience of oral thrush reduced the likelihood of future use: | |
| Maintenance | ‘I know that sometimes [oral thrush] gets too much and I'll just stop doing [my preventer] and I'm not gonna’ lie and say that that’s never, ever going to happen again…If I didn't get [oral thrush], I would be the most compliant patient in the world’ (ID96) |
RCT, randomised controlled trial.