Impact of asthma control on quality of life in an outpatient setting in Brazil

Abstract

Introduction

The goal of asthma therapy is asthma control. As a chronic disease, asthma may cause considerable physical, emotional and social restrictions impacting quality of life. The aim of this study was to analyze control of asthma symptoms in an outpatient setting in Brazil and its impact on quality of life.

Methods

A pilot cross-sectional study was performed in two public centers in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Control of asthma symptoms was assessed according to GINA guidelines, and quality of life was analyzed by the Mini Quality of Life Questionnaire (mini-AQLQ).

Results

A total of 47 adult patients with asthma were analyzed. Asthma was controlled in 8 patients (17.0%), partially controlled in 26 patients (55.3%) and uncontrolled in 13 patients (27.7%). Patients with controlled asthma showed better mini-AQLQ scores (4.99 ± 1.10) as compared to those with partly controlled (3.66 ± 1.10) and uncontrolled asthma (2.59 ± 0.64; p < 0.001 for both). Most patients (85.1%) were taking inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) and long-acting bronchodilators (LABA) as controller treatment.

Conclusions

Better asthma control had a positive impact on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) contributing to a better disease management. Few patients reached full asthma control in our specialty ambulatory center, suggesting further initiatives are required to improve the quality of asthma care in Brazil.

Keywords:

• Asthma
• symptom control
• quality of life
• ambulatory care

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the sites of take part in this study: FMABC and the Santo Andre Specialty Center and all patients who participated in this research. We also would like to thank the Mitti Koyama for statistical support.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest regarding this study. Cristina Bassi Lourenco is a post graduate student at Centro Universitario Faculdade de Medicina ABC and employee at Amgen do Brazil LTDA. Franco Martins is an employee at GSK do Brazil LTDA. Anete Sevciovic Grumach has been speaker and consultant for Shire/Takeda, CSL Behring and Catalyst.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.