In news that could prove valuable to respiratory providers, 67 percent of U.S. adults with uncontrolled asthma are living under the misconception that their condition is under control, according to a new study.
The State of Uncontrolled Asthma Patients in America Survey, funded and developed by pharmaceutical company GSK, included 1,016 patients who scored 5-19 on the Asthma Control Test (ACT) – a level of asthma management considered to be “uncontrolled.” Patients who scored 5-15 on the ACT were classified as “very poorly controlled,” while patients who scored 16-19 were classified as “not-well controlled.”
The survey results might suggest uncontrolled patients feel a false sense of confidence in managing their condition, which might in turn drive recurring symptoms, and increased doctor, emergency room and urgent care visits.
For example, 76 percent of respondents who think their asthma is under control felt confident that they can do the tasks and activities needed to manage their condition in order to reduce their need to see a doctor. However, 64 percent of these patients visited a health care provider as a result of their asthma symptoms, averaging three visits over the past 12 months.
While many uncontrolled asthma patients state they try to proactively manage their condition with medication and trigger avoidance, 74 percent experience symptoms multiple times a week. Additionally, while 89 percent of uncontrolled asthma patients are confident they are capable of changing certain behaviors to better manage their condition, only 50 percent of these patients report having a clear understanding of their illness.
“Understanding patient misperceptions of their degree of asthma control is critical to improving the quality of their asthma care,” said Mark Forshag, M.D., a pulmonologist and U.S. Medical Affairs Lead at GSK. “The survey illustrates there is still a significant need to help patients go beyond merely coping with symptoms to managing their condition. We encourage patients talk to their doctor about proactively managing their asthma and appropriate treatment options.”
The survey also uncovered data that suggested recurring symptoms along with lack of understanding, tools and resources might also result in increased doctor, emergency room and urgent care visits:
- Twenty percent of uncontrolled asthma patients needed to visit an emergency room or urgent care facility due to their condition in the past 12 months, which the study said could present an opportunity to better educate uncontrolled asthma patients on disease management and treatment regimens.
- Surveyed patients with “very poorly controlled” asthma are nearly twice as likely to have visited an emergency room or urgent care facility in the last year due to their condition, compared to those with “not well-controlled” asthma (27 percent vs. 15 percent).
- Forty percent of those who used a rescue inhaler at least three times a day in the past month visited an emergency room or urgent care facility in the last year, compared to 18 percent of those who did not require a rescue inhaler this often.
As many as 242 million people live with asthma worldwide, and in the United States, asthma affects 25.7 million individuals, according to recent data. Poorly controlled asthma is linked to a number of additional health problems, such as obesity, pneumonia, lung infections, and an increased risk of depression, and costs the United States $56 billion each year, according to data cited by GSK.