Analysis Group Consultants Map Biologic Therapy Initiation and Adherence in Severe Asthma, Examining the Role of Social Determinants of Health
August 27, 2026
Biologic therapies can play an important role in managing severe asthma, but patients may encounter barriers to initiating treatment, have difficulty taking their medications consistently, or discontinue therapies over time. Social determinants of health (SDOH) – including education, poverty, housing conditions, internet access, unemployment, and racial or ethnic minority status – may shape patients’ access to and continued use of these treatments. Because adherence to biologic therapies is associated with fewer exacerbations, understanding how SDOH relate to therapy initiation and adherence may help inform efforts to improve patient outcomes.
To examine this, Analysis Group Principal François Laliberté, Vice President Guillaume Germain, and Associate Patrick Gravelle – together with Rohit K. Katial from National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado, Diego J. Maselli from the University of Texas Health at San Antonio, and Justin Kwiatek and Arijita Deb from GSK – conducted a study analyzing how patient characteristics and social determinants of health may be associated with biologic therapy initiation and adherence among patients with severe asthma, as well as how adherence relates to asthma exacerbations. The researchers conducted a large US health care claims analysis incorporating individual- and area-level SDOH measures and used geospatial mapping techniques to visualize geographic variation in biologic initiation and adherence across the country. The researchers also assessed adherence and its association with asthma exacerbation rates among patients who initiated a biologic.
In an article on their findings published in the Journal of Asthma and Allergy, the authors note disparities in both biologic initiation and adherence among patients with different SDOH and observe that dosing schedules appeared to be an important factor in adherence. Their findings suggest that adherence may be higher for biologics with longer dosing intervals, indicating that treatments requiring less frequent administration may offer an important therapeutic option. The authors suggest that considering the socioeconomic and geographic contexts in which patients live could inform future efforts to improve access to treatment and support continuity of care for this population.