Related Experiment Videos
Using Global Initiative for Asthma guidelines to assess asthma severity in populations
R Liard1, B Leynaert, M Zureik
1National Institute for Health and Medical Research, Paris, France.
The European Respiratory Journal
|December 6, 2000
Summary
A new method classifies asthma severity using symptoms, lung function (FEV1), and medication. This approach refines Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines for better asthma burden assessment in treated populations.
Area of Science:
- Pulmonology
- Epidemiology
- Clinical Medicine
Background:
- Assessing asthma severity is vital for understanding community health burdens.
- Current epidemiological methods for asthma severity classification are lacking.
- The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines focus on treatment, not severity assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel epidemiological method for classifying asthma severity.
- To create a "symptom-FEV1 medication" classification system based on GINA guidelines.
- To assess the asthma burden in a large, treated patient population.
Main Methods:
- A classification combining GINA symptom-based and medication-based assessments was developed.
- 4,362 adult asthmatics (aged 16-45) were enrolled by 545 French chest specialists.
- Data included forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) measurements and current medication use.
Main Results:
- A combined "symptom-FEV1 medication" classification was constructed.
- Significant proportions of patients were reclassified to higher severity categories.
- Validation showed increased rates of severe asthma, hospital admissions, and emergency visits with higher severity steps.
Conclusions:
- This study presents the first attempt at an epidemiological asthma severity classification using GINA guidelines in a treated population.
- The proposed classification method is simple, pragmatic, and potentially useful for assessing asthma burden.
- Further validation in diverse populations is recommended.