Picturing asthma in Turkey: results from the Turkish adult asthma registry

Abstract

Introduction

National data on asthma characteristics and the factors associated with uncontrolled asthma seem to be necessary for every country. For this purpose, we developed the Turkish Adult Asthma Registry for patients with asthma aiming to take a snapshot of our patients, thereby assigning the unmet needs and niche areas of intervention.

Methods

Case entries were performed between March 2018 and March 2022. A web-based application was used to record data. Study outcomes were demographic features, disease characteristics, asthma control levels, and phenotypes.

Results

The registry included 2053 patients from 36 study centers in Turkey. Female subjects dominated the group (n = 1535, 74.8%). The majority of the patients had allergic (n = 1158, 65.3%) and eosinophilic (n = 1174, 57.2%) asthma. Six hundred nineteen (32.2%) of the patients had obese asthma. Severe asthma existed in 670 (32.6%) patients. Majority of cases were on step 3–5 treatment (n: 1525; 88.1%). Uncontrolled asthma was associated with low educational level, severe asthma attacks in the last year, low FEV₁, existence of chronic rhinosinusitis and living in particular regions.

Conclusion

The picture of this registry showed a dominancy of middle-aged obese women with moderate-to-severe asthma. We also determined particular strategic targets such as low educational level, severe asthma attacks, low FEV_1, and chronic rhinosinusitis to decrease uncontrolled asthma in our country. Moreover, some regional strategies may also be needed as uncontrolled asthma is higher in certain regions. We believe that these data will guide authorities to reestablish national asthma programs to improve asthma service delivery.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• severe asthma
• asthma control
• ACT
• uncontrolled asthma
• allergic asthma
• eosinophilic asthma
• N-ERD
• ACO

Acknowledgement

The authors thank David F. Chapman for the revision of the English in this manuscript.

Authors’ contribution statement

GEC and OA were the coordinator and vice coordinators of this study, respectively. They were responsible from conceptualized the scope of the project, general planning and task distribution, all correspondences, and following all works. GEC; OA AU, YN, FOE, ZCS, IK, AB; ED, SK, and MK form the questionnaire for the development of the registry based on the scope of the article. DG and YY performed statistics. The draft manuscript was written by GEC and OA and sent to all authors. Following the feedback and contribution of the authors, GEC, OA, AY, BD, AFK, FY, IB, IY, ED, AU, SKO, ZCS, YN, MK, SAY, TY, and GKB reviewed and combined the contributions from all authors and finalized the manuscript. After finalization, all authors approved the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

None of the authors declare conflicts of interest in relation to this work.

Authors’ contribution statement

GEC and OA were the coordinator and vice coordinators of this study, respectively. They were responsible from conceptualized the scope of the project, general planning and task distribution, all correspondences, and following all works. GEC; OA AU, YN, FOE, ZCS, IK, AB; ED, SK, and MK form the questionnaire for the development of the registry based on the scope of the article. DG and YY performed statistics. The draft manuscript was written by GEC and OA and sent to all authors. Following the feedback and contribution of the authors, GEC, OA, AY, BD, AFK, FY, IB, IY, ED, AU, SKO, ZCS, YN, MK, SAY, TY, and GKB reviewed and combined the contributions from all authors and finalized the manuscript. After finalization, all authors approved the manuscript.

Declaration of interest

None of the authors declare conflicts of interest in relation to this work.

Additional information

Funding

This Project was funded by the Turkish Thoracic Society (project number: Y-083-2021).