Factors Contributing Towards Poor Asthma Control in Patients on Regular Medication

Area of Science:

• Pulmonology
• Allergy and Immunology
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Many patients with bronchial asthma experience poor symptom control despite effective medications.
• Objective evaluation of asthma control, focusing on inflammation and contributing factors, is essential for effective symptom management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess asthma control using the modified Mini Asthma Quality Of Life Questionnaire (MAQOL) and sputum eosinophil counts.
• To identify the influence of factors such as age, asthma duration, severity, compliance, inhalation technique, and knowledge of asthma action plans on asthma control.

Main Methods:

• Fifty patients with asthma on regular medication were enrolled after informed consent.
• Asthma control was evaluated using history, symptoms, bronchodilator use, FEVs1, and sputum eosinophil count via modified MAQOL.
• Poor control was defined as a global score below 80%; factors were compared between poorly controlled (PC) and well-controlled (WC) groups using descriptive statistics and unpaired t-tests.

Main Results:

• 66% of patients (33) were poorly controlled (PC) with a mean global score of 58.46 ± 2.881, versus 34% (WC) with 85.2 ± 1.19 (p<0.05).
• PC group had higher mean age (41.41 ± 2.413 vs 29.00 ± 2.157) and longer asthma duration (16.76 ± 2.761 vs 7.882 ± 2.065 years) (p<0.05).
• Mean sputum eosinophil count was higher in the PC group (7.441 ± 1.081 vs 5.176 ± 1.201).

Conclusions:

• The modified MAQOL is a valuable tool for assessing asthma control.
• Sputum eosinophil counts correlate with asthma control status.
• Asthma duration, patient age, and disease severity are significant contributors to poor asthma control, highlighting the need for objective monitoring and tailored treatment strategies.