Asthma Research and Practice

BACKGROUND: There is an increased prevalence of psychological distress in adults with asthma. Psychological distress describes unpleasant feelings or emotions that impact the level of functioning. It is a significant exacerbating factor in asthma control. Addressing factors that contribute to psychological distress in those asthma patients improves asthma outcomes. So, this study aimed to assess the prevalence of psychological distress and associated factors among asthmatic patients at Hawassa public hospitals, Ethiopia, 2021...

BACKGROUND: Real-world evidence for digitally-supported asthma programs among Medicaid-enrolled children remains limited. Using data from a collaborative quality improvement program, we evaluated the impact of a digital intervention on asthma inhaler use among children in southwest Detroit. METHODS: Children (6-13 years) enrolled with Kids Health Connection (KHC), a program involving home visits with an asthma educator, were invited to participate in a digital self-management asthma program (Propeller Health)...

BACKGROUND: Globally, adequate asthma control is not yet achieved. The main cause of uncontrollability is nonadherence to prescribed medications. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to assess asthmatic patients' non-adherence to anti-asthmatic medications and the predictors associated with non-adherence. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted in three governmental hospitals in Bahir Dar city from September 5 to December 12, 2021...

Atopic dermatitis (AD) as a chronic inflammatory systemic condition is far more than skin deep. Co-morbidities such as asthma and allergic rhinitis as well as the psychological impact influence seriously the quality of life of the patients. Recent studies have shown that only 10% of atopic patients undergo full manifestation of the atopic march, while 40% demonstrate concomitant food allergy. Exposure to food allergens in the environment causes sensitization and food allergy through the disruption of the skin barrier, as in AD...

BACKGROUND: Various studies have found that medication adherence is generally low among patients with asthma, and that the complexity of the regimen may be a potential factor. However, there is no information on the complexity of the regimen and its relationship to adherence and asthma outcomes in Ethiopian asthma patients. Therefore, this study assessed how complex medication regimens affected medication adherence and asthma control in patients with asthma. METHOD: From February 1 to May 30, 2022, a multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in three public referral hospitals in northwestern Ethiopia...

Small airway dysfunction (SAD) in asthma is characterized by the inflammation and narrowing of airways with less of 2 mm in diameter between generations 8 and 23 of the bronchial tree. It is now widely accepted that small airways are involved in the pathogenesis of asthma and are a major determinant of airflow obstruction in this disease. In recent years, specialized tests have been developed, such as Impulse Oscillometry (IOS) and Multiple Breath Nitrogen Washout (MBNW) tests, which have been deemed more accurate in detecting SAD than conventional spirometry...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a major public health challenge and is characterized by recurrent attacks of breathlessness and wheezing that vary in severity and frequency from person to person. Asthma control is an important measure of health outcomes of the patients with asthma and reflecting the impact of an illness and its treatment from the patient's perspective. Therefore, this study assessed the asthma control levels and their determinants among adults living with asthma in selected public referral hospitals in northwestern Ethiopia...

BACKGROUND: Long-term follow-up studies of adults with well-characterized asthma are sparse. We aimed to explore static lung volumes and diffusion capacity after 30 + years with asthma. METHODS: A total of 125 adults with an objectively verified diagnosis of asthma between 1974-1990 at a Danish respiratory outpatient clinic completed a follow-up visit 2017-19. All participants (age range 44-88 years) completed a comprehensive workup and were, based on these assessments, classified as having either active asthma or being in complete remission...

BACKGROUND: The overuse of short-acting β2 -agonists (SABA) is associated with poor asthma control. However, data on SABA use in the Gulf region are limited. Herein, we describe SABA prescription practices and clinical outcomes in patients with asthma from the Gulf cohort of the SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III study. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study conducted at 16 sites across Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates, eligible patients (aged ≥ 12 years) with asthma were classified based on investigator-defined disease severity guided by the 2017 Global Initiative for Asthma report and by practice type, i...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease; therefore, biomarkers that can assist in the identification of subtypes and direct therapy are highly desirable. Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that leads to changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) by matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) degradation causing fragments of type I collagen that is released into circulation. OBJECTIVE: Here, we asked if MMP-generated type I collagen (C1M) was associated with subtypes of asthma...

BACKGROUND: Adherence to inhaler medication is an important contributor to optimum asthma control along with adequate pharmacotherapy. The objective of the present study was to assess self-reported adherence levels and to identify the potential factors associated with non-adherence to the inhalers among asthma patients. METHODS: This facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the medicine outpatient department of Rajshahi Medical College Hospital from November 2020 to January 2021...

Atopic diseases are multifactorial chronic disturbances which may evolve one into another and have overlapping pathogenetic mechanisms. Atopic dermatitis is in most cases the first step towards the development of the atopic march and represents a major socio-economic burden in the industrialized countries. The treatment of atopic diseases is often long-lasting and in some cases with lower effectiveness than expected.In order to prevent the development of the atopic march, the links between the atopic diseases have to be understood...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Asthma exacerbation is defined as an acute attack of shortness of breath with more than 25% decrease in morning peak flow compared to the baseline on 2 consecutive days, which requires immediate standard therapy. The majority of asthmatic patients are considered to be steroid-sensitive; however, corticosteroid-resistant asthma is a subset of asthma with poor response to corticosteroids and is responsible for frequent hospital admissions. In this study we aimed to compare the effects of two enhancing strategies, the nebulized ketamine and IV magnesium sulfate, in treatment of severe steroid resistant asthma...

BACKGROUND: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by airway obstruction and hyper-responsiveness. Studies suggest that household fuel exposure and housing characteristics are associated with air way related allergy. But there remains to be a considerable uncertainty about whether that reflects an association with asthma. This study endeavored to bridge the gap by identifying factors associated with asthma, with special reference to household fuel exposure and housing characteristics in selected public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia...

BACKGROUND: Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) increases the risk of asthma exacerbations, and thus, monitoring personal exposure to PM2.5 may aid in disease self-management. Low-cost, portable air pollution sensors offer a convenient way to measure personal pollution exposure directly and may improve personalized monitoring compared with traditional methods that rely on stationary monitoring stations. We aimed to understand whether adults with asthma would be willing to use personal sensors to monitor their exposure to air pollution and to assess the feasibility of using sensors to measure real-time PM2...

Around 5-10% of the total asthmatic population suffer from severe or uncontrolled asthma, which is associated with increased mortality and hospitalization, increased health care burden and worse quality of life. In the last few years, new drugs have been launched and several asthma phenotypes according to definite biomarkers have been identified. In particular, therapy with biologics has revolutionized the management and the treatment of severe asthma, showing high therapeutic efficacy associated with significant clinical benefits...

Despite widely and regularly used therapy asthma in children is not fully controlled. Recognizing the complexity of asthma phenotypes and endotypes imposed the concept of precision medicine in asthma treatment. By applying machine learning algorithms assessed with respect to their accuracy in predicting treatment outcome, we have successfully identified 4 distinct clusters in a pediatric asthma cohort with specific treatment outcome patterns according to changes in lung function (FEV1 and MEF50 ), airway inflammation (FENO) and disease control likely affected by discrete phenotypes at initial disease presentation, differing in the type and level of inflammation, age of onset, comorbidities, certain genetic and other physiologic traits...

BACKGROUND: Severe asthma is difficult to control. Therapeutic patient education enables patients to better understand their disease and cope with treatment, but the effect of therapeutic patient education in severe uncontrolled asthma is unclear. We evaluated whether therapeutic patient education is effective in improving asthma control and decreasing the frequency of exacerbations in severe uncontrolled asthma. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational, and self-controlled study that enrolled 40 subjects with severe uncontrolled asthma...

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the new severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), provoked the most striking international public health crisis of our time. COVID-19 can cause a range of breathing problems, from mild to critical, with potential evolution to respiratory failure and acute respiratory distress syndrome. Elderly adults and those affected with chronic cardiovascular, metabolic, and respiratory conditions carry a higher risk of severe COVID-19. Given the global burden of asthma, there are well-founded concerns that the relationship between COVID-19 and asthma could represent a "dangerous liaison"...

BACKGROUND: The Coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak is the first reported case in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and suddenly became a major global health concern. Currently, there is no vaccine and treatment have been reported. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of COVID-19 among chronic disease patients. METHODS: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 422 chronic disease patients from July 01 to August 30, 2020 at Aksum Hospital, Northern Ethiopia...