The burden of paediatric asthma is higher than health professionals think: results from the Asthma in Real Life (AIR) study

The Asthma Control TestTM (ACT) as a predictor of GINA guideline-defined asthma control: analysis of a multinational cross-sectional survey

“…The median (IQR) ACT scores for GINA categories were 14 (11-17), 20 (17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22), and 23 (21-25) for uncontrolled, partly controlled, and controlled asthma, respectively (p<0.001). The median ACT scores for each GINA category varied significantly within each country (p<0.001), with significant differences (p<0.001) for all pairwise comparisons; median ACT scores were numerically similar for any given GINA category among countries (see Table 6).…”

“…Patients ranged in age from 12 to 93 years (mean [SD], 42 [17]), and 56% (1657/2941) were female (a few demographic data were missing). Most patients were white (2598/2930 or 89%); patients of Hispanic (102, 3%) and African-American descent (98, 3%) were equally represented, with smaller numbers who described themselves as Afro-Caribbean (62, 2%), Asian (55, 2%), and other (15, <1%).…”

“…[12][13][14][15] However, many patients worldwide have sub-optimally controlled asthma, and they are often not aware that better control can be achieved; moreover, physicians may overestimate levels of control or the extent of improvement achieved with therapy, often because of inadequate assessment. 16,17 In addition, selection of asthma control criteria not consistent with current asthma guidelines may hamper assessment. 18 The Asthma Control Test TM (ACT) was developed as a screening tool to address the need for a simple, rapidlycompleted assessment tool in clinical practice.…”

Parent misperception of control in childhood/adolescent asthma: the Room to Breathe survey

“…For example, parents from the UK, Germany and Spain considered their child's/adolescent's asthma to be well controlled, but also reported visiting the emergency department within the previous 3 months [14]. It would seem that parents of children/adolescents with asthma perceive significant levels of symptoms, lifestyle restriction and reliance on reliever medication as good control [15].…”

High-dose inhaled corticosteroids versus add-on long-acting β-agonists in asthma: An observational study

“…Most patients who remain uncontrolled can achieve guideline-specified control either by increasing the dose of ICS or by adding second pharmacotherapeutic agents, 2 yet currently many patients remain uncontrolled. [3][4][5] Patients with persistent symptoms should be prescribed maintenance therapy with ICS at low to moderate doses, 6,7 which in the United Kingdom (UK) is defined as up to 800 mg/d beclomethasone dipropionate or equivalent for adults. 7 Although higher doses of ICS were previously recommended, 8 recent evidence suggests that the addition of a long-acting b-agonist (LABA) is a better option for most.…”