329 Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM): A Survey of Asthma Patients in 5 Latin American Locales

BACKGROUND: In 2011, we conducted a comprehensive asthma survey in Latin America with a 3-fold purpose: to explore the realities of living with asthma, to identify the disconnect between expectations in asthma management and the patient experience, and to identify unmet needs in asthma management. The Latin America Asthma Insight and Management (LA AIM) survey was modeled on similar programs in the US, Europe and Canada, and the Asia-Pacific region. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews of approximately 35 minutes' duration were conducted with respondents drawn from a national probability sample. The survey was designed to include 2000 patients (400 patients/location) across countries in Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela) and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. Survey questions were organized under the topics of asthma burden; impact of asthma on patients' activities, lifestyles, and work productivity; emotional burden; defining and characterizing symptoms; seasonal influences on symptoms; triggers; most bothersome symptoms; and patient perceptions about current levels of control. RESULTS: The results from the LA AIM survey will become available in November 2011. In the 2009 US AIM survey,1 2500 asthma patients aged ≥12 years (adults, n = 2186, and parents of adolescent respondents) were interviewed by phone. Participants had a diagnosis of asthma, had taken asthma medication, or experienced an asthma attack within 12 months of the survey. Respondents in the patient sample were predominantly female (69%, n = 1732), aged ≥35 years (73%, n = 1819), and had “not well-controlled” or “very poorly controlled” asthma (71%), using National Asthma Education Prevention Program guideline criteria. One in 4 respondents experienced symptom worsening at least weekly over the past 12 months: 11% reported asthma exacerbations most days; another 14% reported them at least twice weekly. CONCLUSIONS: The US AIM survey provides a comprehensive depiction of the current state of asthma burden and patient perceptions in the United States. The LA AIM survey provides a view of the state of asthma across 5 distinct Latin American cultures.