Estimation of Worldwide Burden of Smoking-Related Asthma

Although there is solid evidence that active cigarette-smoking interplays with asthma, no recent information has been published on the worldwide burden of smoking-related asthma.

An electronic search was carried out in the Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) registry, using the keywords "asthma" and "smoking." Asthma-related population burden was expressed as disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Although smoking-related DALYs for asthma has consistently declined by approximately 20% over the last 3 decades, the burden remains high, accounting for 9.3% of the cumulative 22.8 million DALYs caused by asthma around the world. Across all ages, the burden of smoking-related DALYs for asthma is greater in men than in women and reaches a peak in both sexes at the age of 55-70 years. Europe is the continent with the greatest burden of smoking-related DALYs for asthma, followed by western Pacific nations and Southeast Asia, whilst the least burden is seen in Africa.

The specific asthmatic populations identified with our search shall be specifically targeted with health care policies aimed at decreasing the impact of cigarette-smoking on their asthma condition and thereby contributing to lower the clinical, societal, and economic burden of smoking-related asthma.