Fifty two preschool children with asthma were given a recommended regimen of slow release theophylline. There was wide variation in the metabolism of theophylline. The approach adopted gave disappointing results. Nine children did not comply, and 16 stopped treatment because of side effects. Of the remainder, control of asthma was poor in 15 and satisfactory in 12.

Asthma continues to be one of the most common reasons for emergency department visits and a leading cause of hospitalization. Acute management involves severity-based treatment of bronchoconstriction and underlying airway inflammation. Optimal treatment has been defined and standardized through randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, and consensus guidelines. Implementation of clinica...

OBJECTIVES To investigate whether beliefs about asthma medication, cognitive and emotional factors are related to poor asthma control in a sample of Latvian asthma patients in 2015. DESIGN Cross-sectional, self-administered survey. SUBJECTS Three hundred and fifty two asthma patients (mean age 57.5 years) attending outpatient pulmonologist consultations in Riga, Latvia during September 2013...

BACKGROUND It would be helpful if patients with asthma who require admission to hospital for an acute attack could be identified. METHODS The relation between the severity of an attack of asthma as determined by admission assessment and the eventual outcome was studied in 52 asthmatic patients aged 14 to 44 years and admitted to an asthma emergency room. The patient's history, including medic...

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to determine the level of knowledge concerning risk factors for the development of asthma and worsening of the course of the disease among patients, as well as achieving a better understanding of the educational role of the nurse in improving the quality of life of patients suffering from the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was a questionnaire study i...

Severe asthma is defined as asthma that requires treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) plus a second controller and/or systemic corticosteroids to prevent it from becoming uncontrolled or that remains uncontrolled despite this therapy. This definition has limitations: 1) it does not define any biological characteristic that distinguishes severe asthma from asthma in general an...

Causes for the high mortality from asthma in New Zealand were investigated by comparing deaths from asthma in caucasian subjects aged 15-64 in New Zealand with those from asthma in the same age group in two regions in England. There were no significant differences in the accuracy of death certification. The verified asthma mortality in New Zealand (4.2/100,000) was over twice that in England. M...

BACKGROUND Asthma accounts for considerable burden on health care, but in most cases, asthma can be controlled. Quality-of-care indicators would aid in monitoring asthma management. We describe the quality of asthma care using a set of proposed quality indicators. METHODS We performed a retrospective cross-sectional study using health databases in Saskatchewan, a Canadian province with a popu...

BACKGROUND An understanding of the needs and behaviors of asthma patients is important in developing an asthma-related healthcare policy. The primary goal of the present review was to assess patient perspectives on key issues in asthma and its management, as captured in patient surveys. METHODS Local, national, and multinational asthma surveys were reviewed to assess patient perspectives, and...

Children with asthma that is refractory to high levels of prescribed treatment are described as having problematic severe asthma. Those in whom persistent symptoms result from a failure of basic asthma management are described as having "difficult asthma", while those who remain symptomatic despite these factors having been addressed are described as having "severe therapy-resistant asthma" (ST...