Asthma in the Real-World: The Relevance of Gender

The possible gender impact on asthma arouses current and outstanding interest, but few studies addressed this issue in the real-world setting.

This cross-sectional study tested the hypothesis of a potential difference between asthmatic males and females in a real-life setting, such as a third-level asthma clinic.

A total of 499 asthmatic outpatients (301 females and 198 males, mean age 58.25 years) were consecutively visited. The visit included history, asthma control, and severity grade, physical examination, lung function, fractional exhaled nitric oxide assessment, and blood sample for biomarkers.

There were more females than males (about 3 of 5). Asthmatic females smoked less (p < 0.0001) than males and had higher FEV1 (p = 0.0022) and FVC (p = 0.0004) values than asthmatic males.

Gender difference was associated with smoking and lung function impairment; thus, this issue should be carefully considered in asthmatic patients in daily clinical practice.