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Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)

The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence, management and characteristics of asthma patients with frequent exacerbations. Data from asthma patients (aged ≥18 years) identified in primary care medical records were linked to Swedish national health registries. Exacerbations were defined a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Janson, Christer, Lisspers, Karin, Ställberg, Björn, Johansson, Gunnar, Thuresson, Marcus, Telg, Gunilla, Larsson, Kjell
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: European Respiratory Society 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6092688/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29946008
http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01927-2017
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author Janson, Christer
Lisspers, Karin
Ställberg, Björn
Johansson, Gunnar
Thuresson, Marcus
Telg, Gunilla
Larsson, Kjell
author_facet Janson, Christer
Lisspers, Karin
Ställberg, Björn
Johansson, Gunnar
Thuresson, Marcus
Telg, Gunilla
Larsson, Kjell
author_sort Janson, Christer
collection PubMed
description The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence, management and characteristics of asthma patients with frequent exacerbations. Data from asthma patients (aged ≥18 years) identified in primary care medical records were linked to Swedish national health registries. Exacerbations were defined as hospitalisations, emergency visits and/or collection of oral steroids. Frequent exacerbations were defined as two or more exacerbations per year during the 3-year observation period. Of 18 724 asthma patients, 81.49% had no exacerbations and 6.3% had frequent exacerbations in the year prior to the index date. Frequent exacerbations were observed yearly for 1.8% of the patients. Frequent exacerbators were older, more often females, and had increased eosinophil and neutrophil counts, lower lung function, and more comorbidities than patients without exacerbations. There was a slight increase in asthma medication claims and a slight decrease in physician visits compared with baseline, both in the group with and the group without frequent exacerbations. Patients with frequent exacerbations were characterised by greater age, female predominance, high eosinophil and neutrophil counts, and high prevalence of comorbidities. This study indicates that the Swedish healthcare system lacks efficiency to adjust treatment and management for this patient group. With new treatment options targeting severe asthma available, identification of these patients should be in focus to ensure reduction of exacerbations.
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spelling pubmed-60926882018-08-17 Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR) Janson, Christer Lisspers, Karin Ställberg, Björn Johansson, Gunnar Thuresson, Marcus Telg, Gunilla Larsson, Kjell Eur Respir J Original Articles The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence, management and characteristics of asthma patients with frequent exacerbations. Data from asthma patients (aged ≥18 years) identified in primary care medical records were linked to Swedish national health registries. Exacerbations were defined as hospitalisations, emergency visits and/or collection of oral steroids. Frequent exacerbations were defined as two or more exacerbations per year during the 3-year observation period. Of 18 724 asthma patients, 81.49% had no exacerbations and 6.3% had frequent exacerbations in the year prior to the index date. Frequent exacerbations were observed yearly for 1.8% of the patients. Frequent exacerbators were older, more often females, and had increased eosinophil and neutrophil counts, lower lung function, and more comorbidities than patients without exacerbations. There was a slight increase in asthma medication claims and a slight decrease in physician visits compared with baseline, both in the group with and the group without frequent exacerbations. Patients with frequent exacerbations were characterised by greater age, female predominance, high eosinophil and neutrophil counts, and high prevalence of comorbidities. This study indicates that the Swedish healthcare system lacks efficiency to adjust treatment and management for this patient group. With new treatment options targeting severe asthma available, identification of these patients should be in focus to ensure reduction of exacerbations. European Respiratory Society 2018-08-02 /pmc/articles/PMC6092688/ /pubmed/29946008 http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01927-2017 Text en Copyright ©ERS 2018. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is open access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Licence 4.0.
spellingShingle Original Articles
Janson, Christer
Lisspers, Karin
Ställberg, Björn
Johansson, Gunnar
Thuresson, Marcus
Telg, Gunilla
Larsson, Kjell
Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title_full Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title_fullStr Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title_short Prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in Sweden (PACEHR)
title_sort prevalence, characteristics and management of frequently exacerbating asthma patients: an observational study in sweden (pacehr)
topic Original Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6092688/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29946008
http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/13993003.01927-2017
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