Women, patients with severe asthma, and patients attended by primary care physicians, are at higher risk of suffering from poorly controlled asthma

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this exploratory study was to identify those factors associated with asthma control assessed according to GINA Guidelines. Method: 809 (56% female) subjects with asthma were recruited consecutively from both specialist and primary care centres. Asthma control was assessed over a 4-week follow-up period using a composite measure. A multivariate analysis was performed, in which asthma control was included as the dependent variable and several explanatory variables were included as independent variables. Results: Analysis performed on the whole population rendered gender (p=0.003), the type of physician (p<0.001), and age group (p<0.001), as significant factors associated with asthma control. In adults, gender (p=0.001), asthma severity (p<0.001), and type of physician (p<0.001) were significant, and only asthma severity was significant (p=0.043) in children. Conclusions: After model adjustment, we suggest that being female, suffering from more severe asthma, or being attended by a primary care physician, could pose a significantly higher risk of having poorly controlled asthma in adults. © 2009 General Practice Airways Group. All rights reserved.