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

Prim Care Respir J. 2009 Dec;18(4):294-9. doi: 10.4104/pcrj.2009.00027.

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.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Factors
  • Asthma / epidemiology*
  • Asthma / prevention & control*
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Primary Health Care*
  • Quality of Life
  • Risk Factors
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sex Factors
  • Smoking / epidemiology
  • Spain / epidemiology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires