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Gut microbiota dysbiosis has been recognized as having key importance in obesity- and metabolic-related diseases. Although there is increasing evidence of the potential benefits induced by probiotics in metabolic disturbances, there is a lack of large cross-sectional studies to assess population-based prevalence of probiotic intake and metabolic diseases. Our aim was to evaluate the association of probiotic ingestion with obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. A cross-sectional study was designed using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 1999–2014. Probiotic ingestion was considered when a subject reported consumption of yogurt or a probiotic supplement during the 24-hour dietary recall or during the Dietary Supplement Use 30-Day questionnaire. We included 38,802 adults and 13.1% reported probiotic ingestion. The prevalence of obesity and hypertension was lower in the probiotic group (obesity-adjusted Odds Ratio (OR): 0.84, 95% CI 0.76–0.92, p < 0.001; hypertension-adjusted OR: 0.79, 95% CI 0.71–0.88, p < 0.001). Accordingly, even after analytic adjustments, body mass index (BMI) was significantly lower in the probiotic group, as were systolic and diastolic blood pressure and triglycerides; high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was significantly higher in the probiotic group for the adjusted model. In this large-scale study, ingestion of probiotic supplements or yogurt was associated with a lower prevalence of obesity and hypertension.

Asthma in adults poses a significant economic burden on the Portuguese healthcare system, accounting for over 2% of the total healthcare expenditure in Portugal in 2010. It is important to note that a considerable portion of this burden might be eased by improving asthma control in patients, as uncontrolled patients' costs are more than double those of controlled asthma patients.

Costs of childhood asthma are high (0.9% of the healthcare expenditures in Portugal). Direct costs represented three-fourth of total costs, mainly related to the use of healthcare services for acute asthma care. Policies and interventions to improve asthma control and reduce acute use of healthcare services have the potential to reduce asthma costs.

Background Poor medication adherence is a major challenge in asthma, and objective assessment of inhaler adherence is needed. The InspirerMundi app aims to monitor adherence while providing a positive experience through gamification and social support. Objective This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the InspirerMundi app to monitor medication adherence in adolescents and adults with persistent asthma (treated with daily inhaled medication). Methods A 1-month mixed method multicenter observational study was conducted in 26 secondary care centers from Portugal and Spain. During an initial face-to-face visit, physicians reported patients’ asthma therapeutic plan in a structured questionnaire. During the visits, patients were invited to use the app daily to register their asthma medication intakes. A scheduled intake was considered taken when patients registered the intake (inhaler, blister, or other drug formulation) by using the image-based medication detection tool. At 1 month, patients were interviewed by phone, and app satisfaction was assessed on a 1 (low) to 5 (high) scale. Patients were also asked to point out the most and least preferred app features and make suggestions for future app improvements. Results A total of 107 patients (median 27 [P25-P75 14-40] years) were invited, 92.5% (99/107) installed the app, and 73.8% (79/107) completed the 1-month interview. Patients interacted with the app a median of 9 (P25-P75 1-24) days. At least one medication was registered in the app by 78% (77/99) of patients. A total of 53% (52/99) of participants registered all prescribed inhalers, and 34% (34/99) registered the complete asthma therapeutic plan. Median medication adherence was 75% (P25-P75 25%-90%) for inhalers and 82% (P25-P75 50%-94%) for other drug formulations. Patients were globally satisfied with the app, with 75% (59/79) scoring ≥4,; adherence monitoring, symptom monitoring, and gamification features being the most highly scored components; and the medication detection tool among the lowest scored. A total of 53% (42/79) of the patients stated that the app had motivated them to improve adherence to inhaled medication and 77% (61/79) would recommend the app to other patients. Patient feedback was reflected in 4 major themes: medication-related features (67/79, 85%), gamification and social network (33/79, 42%), symptom monitoring and physician communication (21/79, 27%), and other aspects (16/79, 20%). Conclusions The InspirerMundi app was feasible and acceptable to monitor medication adherence in patients with asthma. Based on patient feedback and to increase the registering of medications, the therapeutic plan registration and medication detection tool were redesigned. Our results highlight the importance of patient participation to produce a patient-centered and engaging mHealth asthma app.

Half of the children with asthma were poorly controlled. Nasal symptoms and obesity are important determinants of asthma control. Children without health insurance are at greater risk of poor asthma outcomes; this association is reported for the first time in a European country.

Physician definitions of bronchiolitis have considerable variability and often mismatch those of clinical trials. Rating of important outcomes was consistent. Our results highlight the need for a robust standardized definition of acute bronchiolitis in infants and support the development of a core outcome set for future clinical trials. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:724-732. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.