Factors Contributing Towards Poor Asthma Control in Patients on Regular Medication.

Abstract

In-spite of the availability of effective medications, it is observed that patients with bronchial asthma on treatment are poorly controlled. An objective evaluation of asthma control especially with respect to inflammation and the factors contributing towards poor control is crucial in obtaining relief of symptoms. 1) To measure the asthma control using modified Mini Asthma Quality Of Life Questionnaire (MAQOL) and sputum eosinophil count; 2) To identify the role of factors viz. age, duration of asthma, severity, compliance, technique of inhalation and knowledge of asthma action plan on asthma control. Total 50 asthmatic patients on regular medication were included in the study after obtaining written informed consent. The asthma-control was evaluated based on history, clinical symptoms, need for short-acting bronchodilators, FEVs1 and sputum eosinophil count with the help of modified MAQOL. A global score of <80% was considered as poor control. The proportion of patients under each factor, in poorly-controlled group (PC) was compared with the well-controlled group (WC). The results were analysed using descriptive statistics and unpaired student's t-test. Of the total, 33 (66%) patients were in PC category with a mean global asthma score of 58.46 ± 2.881 vs 85.2 ± 1.19 in the WC group (34%) (p<0.05). The mean age in PC was 41.41 ± 2.413 vs 29.00 ± 2.157(p<0.05) in the WC. The mean duration of asthma was 16.76 ± 2.761 in PC vs 7.882 ± 2.065 years in WC (p<0.05). The severity score was 7.265 ± 0.4434 in PC vs 6.706 ± 0.64 in WC. Eight patients in PC and six in WC were unaware of the treatment plan. One in PC group and three in WC were unaware of technique of inhalation. One in PC group and three in WC were non-compliant. Mean sputum eosinophil count was 7.441 ± 1.081 in PC vs 5.176 ± 1.201 in WC. MAQOL is useful in evaluating asthma-control. Sputum eosinophil count correlates with asthma-control. Duration of asthma, age and severity contributed significantly to the poor control of asthma. There is a need for an objective monitoring in asthma and the treatment strategies need to be modified accordingly.