A novel approach to defining the relationship between lung function and symptom status in asthma
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Updated: Oct 3, 2026

Bronchial Thermoplasty: A Novel Therapeutic Approach to Severe Asthma
Published on: November 4, 2010
Karen M Kuntz1, Barrett T Kitch, Anne L Fuhlbrigge
1Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, 718 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA, USA. kmk@hsph.harvard.edu
Abstract:
We present a novel approach to estimating functional relationships between forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)) and asthma-related symptoms on a population-wide basis. We used asthma-related clinical trials that reported estimates of mean lung function (measured as FEV(1) percent predicted) and symptoms (symptom score or percentage of symptom days or nighttime awakenings). Using average baseline values from each study in weighted linear regression analyses, we found a negative association between lung function and symptom score (P < 0.001) and the percentage of nighttime awakenings (P = 0.18), but no association between lung function and symptom days. We also found consistent relationships between the mean changes in lung function and symptoms at follow-up within the studies. Functional relationships between FEV(1) percent predicted and asthma-related symptoms can be useful for inferring the effect on the symptoms of a population associated with overall improvements in lung function.
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