Age at asthma onset and asthma self-management education among adults in the United States

Abstract

Objective Asthma self-management education improves asthma-related outcomes. We conducted this analysis to evaluate variation in the percentages of adults with active asthma reporting components of asthma self-management education by age at asthma onset. Methods Data from 2011 to 2012 Asthma Call-back Surveys were used to estimate percentages of adults with active asthma reporting six components of asthma self-management education. Components of asthma self-management education include having been taught to what to do during an asthma attack and receiving an asthma action plan. Differences in the percentages of adults reporting each component and the average number of components reported across categories of age at asthma onset were estimated using linear regression, adjusted for age, education, race/ethnicity, sex, smoking status, and years since asthma onset. Results Overall, an estimated 76.4% of adults with active asthma were taught what to do during an asthma attack and 28.7% reported receiving an asthma action plan. Percentages reporting each asthma self-management education component declined with increasing age at asthma onset. Compared with the referent group of adults whose asthma onset occurred at 5–14 years of age, the percentage of adults reporting being taught what to do during an asthma attack was 10% lower among those whose asthma onset occurred at 65–93 years of age (95% CI: −18.0, −2.5) and the average number of components reported decreased monotonically across categories of age at asthma onset of 35 years and older. Conclusions Among adults with active asthma, reports of asthma self-management education decline with increasing age at asthma onset.

Asthma Morbidity, Comorbidities, and Modifiable Factors Among Older Adults

“…Collider bias 24, 35 might have affected our results regarding relationships between health care access (e.g., cost as a barrier to seeing a doctor for asthma) and asthma-related hospitalizations or ED/UCV, because the selection of individuals with active asthma was partially predicated on potentially overlapping attributes (e.g., talked to a doctor or other health professional about asthma in the past 12 months). 16–18 The content of the BRFSS and ACBS questionnaires limited investigation of other potential contributors to asthma morbidity and precluded distinguishing between emergency department and urgent care center visits. Data on IgE sensitization were not collected.…”

“…This study was focused on adults aged ≥65 years with active asthma (Figure 1). As in previous analyses of BRFSS and ACBS data, 16–18 respondents were classified as having active asthma if they reported in ACBS that at least one of the following occurred during the past 12 months: talked to a doctor or other health professional about his or her asthma, took asthma medication, or experienced any symptoms of asthma.…”

“…As in previous analyses, uninformative responses (i.e., don’t know, missing, refused) were considered negative responses (i.e., not having the relevant outcome). 16, 18, 20, 21…”

Smartphone app for asthma self-management – a literature review of contents and functions

“…A self-management is quite critical to achieving optimum asthma treatment goals. The Latest studies have found that training in asthma selfmanagement, which involves a number of varied factors, such as a self-monitoring activity, a regular medical review, and a written action plan, appears to improve health outcomes for patients with asthma (Mirabelli et al, 2015). One of the many effective ways proposed to help improve the outcomes of self-management in patients with asthma is through the use of smartphone applications.…”