Asthma-related deaths

Abstract

Despite major advances in the treatment of asthma and the development of several asthma guidelines, people still die of asthma currently. According to WHO estimates, approximately 250,000 people die prematurely each year from asthma. Trends of asthma mortality rates vary very widely across countries, age and ethnic groups. Several risk factors have been associated with asthma mortality, including a history of near-fatal asthma requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation, hospitalization or emergency care visit for asthma in the past year, currently using or having recently stopped using oral corticosteroids (a marker of event severity), not currently using inhaled corticosteroids, a history of psychiatric disease or psychosocial problems, poor adherence with asthma medications and/or poor adherence with (or lack of) a written asthma action plan, food allergy in a patient with asthma. Preventable factors have been identified in the majority of asthma deaths. Inadequate education of patients on recognising risk and the appropriate action needed when asthma control is poor, deficiencies in the accuracy and timing of asthma diagnosis, inadequate classification of severity and treatment, seem to play a part in the majority of asthma deaths. Improvements in management, epitomized by the use of guided self-management systems of care may be the key goals in reducing asthma mortality worldwide

Independent risk factors for death in patients admitted for asthma exacerbation in Taiwan

“…18 The high number of deaths from asthma may be explained by a lack of recognition of fatal risk factors in asthmatic patients. 19 The following risk factors associated with near-fatal asthma and fatal asthma attacks have been reported: (1) comorbidities: a history of psychiatric disease, psychosocial problems, and food allergies; (2) asthma severity: a history of near-fatal asthma attacks requiring intubation and mechanical ventilation, hospitalization or ED visit for asthma in the past year, recently discontinued use of oral corticosteroids (OCSs); (3) a prescription pattern of anti-asthmatic medications: OCS use, not currently using ICS, and overuse of short-acting β 2 agonist (SABA); and (4) patient compliance: poor adherence to taking asthma medications and/or poor adherence to or lack of a written asthma action plan. [19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Several studies demonstrated that the national database is a useful resource to investigate the risk factors of asthma exacerbation and hospitalization.…”

Ezrin Orchestrates Signal Transduction in Airway Cells

“…Asthma is a clinical challenge in modern medicine that affects over 300 million people and causes over 250,000 deaths annually worldwide (D’Amato et al 2016; Lambrecht and Hammad 2015). Structural airway cells, such as smooth muscle and epithelial cells, are critical factors that contribute to asthma.…”

Message in a bottle: How evidence‐based medicine and a programme change model improved asthma management in a low‐income emergency department in Papua New Guinea

“…17 Lack of preventer therapies, spacers or action plans is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in asthmatic patients. 18 Plastic bottle spacers have been recognised for over 15 years as an alternative to commercial spacers in low-and middle-income countries. 19,20 The slow translation of evidence into practice is critical for asthma management, as the ED is often the only medical contact for many in PNG.…”