Asthma care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Differences in attitudes and expectations between physicians and patients

Abstract

Specific behaviors and beliefs that asthma patients and physicians have during the COVID-19 pandemic are unknown. The goal of this study was to understand differences in attitudes and expectations related to COVID-19 between physicians and patients. METHODS: An anonymous survey was distributed through email and social media channels to adult patients with asthma for a 3-week period between April-May 2020. A separate survey was sent to physicians. The surveys asked about demographic information, including asthma-specific demographics, specific challenges due to COVID-19, and attitudes/ behaviors during COVID-19. RESULTS: A total of 1171 patients and 225 physicians completed the surveys. Overall, patients with asthma and physicians had large differences regarding COVID-19 expectations. Patients were more likely to believe that individuals with asthma are at a higher risk to get COVID-19 (37.5% vs. 12.0%, p<0.001), would require hospitalization from COVID-19 (90.7% vs. 62.2%, p<0.001), and should not go to work (62.7% vs 11.9%, p <0.001). Patients also faced increased financial difficulties obtaining their medications due to COVID-19 more often than physicians anticipated (28.0% vs 16.4%, p< 0.001). Among patients, those with severe asthma (n5102, 8.7% of patients) were significantly more impacted (e.g., became unemployed [OR 2.15] and had difficulty getting asthma meds [OR 2.37]) compared to those with mild or moderate asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with asthma and their physicians have markedly different attitudes and opinions regarding care during COVID-19. There are also differences in attitudes and experiences between patients with severe asthma and those with mild/moderate asthma. Such differences have important implications for patient care.