Asthma control and acute healthcare visits among young adults with asthma—A population‐based study

Abstract

Aims To study asthma control and acute healthcare visits among young adults with asthma. Background Despite the access to effective treatment and nursing interventions, poor asthma control is still common among individuals with asthma. However, studies describing clinical characteristics among young adults with asthma are rare. Design A population‐based cohort study. Methods In 2015, as a part of the OLIN paediatric cohort I (recruited in 1996 at age 7–8 years), N = 2,291 young adults (27–28 years) completed a postal questionnaire survey including questions on asthma and respiratory symptoms. Of these, N = 280 (12%) were identified as having current asthma and were further studied. Results Of those with current asthma, women reported respiratory symptoms and smoking to a greater extent than men. Approximately one‐fourth had uncontrolled asthma and acute healthcare visits due to asthma was reported by 15% of women and 8% of men. Uncontrolled asthma was associated with smoking, lower educational level, use of reliever treatment most days, and acute healthcare visits. Acute healthcare visits due to asthma were associated with periodic use of regular controller treatment also after adjustment for uncontrolled asthma. Conclusion The result indicate poor adherence to asthma treatment which may lead to decreased asthma control and acute healthcare visits. Impact Most young adults with asthma are diagnosed and treated in primary care, ideally in a team with a nurse. The main findings highlight the need for evidenced‐based nursing interventions, contributing to a more efficient asthma management in primary care.

Maintenance of Asthma Control in Adolescents with Severe Asthma After Transitioning to a Specialist Adult Centre: A French Cohort Experience

“…An European study carried out in 2014 on 8000 adult asthmatics reported a prevalence of uncontrolled asthma of 45%. 16 , 17 In our study, 73% of patients had a good evolution of their asthma during their adult follow-up, with persistent control (ACT ≥20). The continuation of follow-up in an adult centre contributed to the maintenance of well controlled disease and good respiratory function at 3 years after transition.…”

“… 8 This suggests that it would be interesting to continue the follow-up of our cohort beyond 3 years. The persistence of poor asthma control in this subgroup may be explained by different factors: more severe allergic asthma, asthma difficult to control, irregular medical follow-up or poor adherence to treatments, 16 but may also represent a specific subgroup of patients with severe asthma. These observations were also found in patients with uncontrolled asthma in our cohort, where asthma was predominantly allergic; three patients in this subgroup had a break in follow-up for >12 months.…”

Respiratory Sex Differences in Response to Smoke Exposure

“…In a Swedish population study of individuals in their late 20s with asthma, it was found that long-standing cough and sputum production were more common in women (Selberg et al 2019). Additionally, in the same cohort, a higher proportion of women were current smokers, and current smokers more frequently had uncontrolled asthma, which is a finding that has previously been shown in Nordic countries.…”

Translation and validation of the Chinese version of Patient-completed Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire and its implementation in patient education

“…But from the multicenter, cross-sectional study published before, it was shown that only 28.5% Chinese patients achieved the complete control of asthma (3). The worse control of asthma results from many factors, including age, gender, unhealthy lifestyle, poor family environment, family history, allergies, poor medication compliance and lack of knowledge and selfmanagement of the disease (4)(5)(6)(7). It is necessary to assess the knowledge level and competencies of the patient before initiating patient education in order to carry out personalized asthma education effectively (8,9).…”