Achieving optimal asthma control: Can this be informed by recent studies of professional-patient communication?

Sub-optimal patient and physician communication in primary care consultations: its relation to severe and difficult asthma

“…Although there has been work looking at the experiences of patients with asthma [8][9][10], this is the first data reported on views of people with 'difficult' and/or severe asthma towards management of their asthma by primary healthcare professionals. This is interesting in the light of Bellamy and Harris's recent paper, and the accompanying editorial, in a recent issue of the Primary Care Respiratory Journal [17,18]. Their study identified that patients, particularly those with severe/difficult asthma and poor control, report poor communication within the consultation and do not feel comfortable raising lifestyle, or non-medical factors, for discussion within the consultation even where they are aware that these impact on their asthma.…”

What's in this issue?

“…While most GPs questioned believed that total asthma control was possible, it is evident that this is not being achieved! In their editorial addressing the issues raised by this survey, Cleland and Price [13] conclude that one explanation for this could be suboptimal communication within the consultation. They suggest that appropriate treatment goals should be set individually by taking into account what matters to patients in terms of symptom control.…”