A breath for health: an exploratory study in severe asthma patients in Turkey

Background: Severe asthma puts enormous burden on patients. To evaluate asthma-related restrictions on patients' daily lives along with their expectations about future asthma care. Methods: A structured questionnaire was administered to severe asthma patients at 25 centers across Turkey. The patients were divided into; uncontrolled (n: 274) and controlled asthma (n: 177) according to the existence of symptoms despite the GINA step 4 or 5 treatment. Results: A total of 451 patients (F/M: 337/114, mean age: 47.6 +/- 13.2 years) were included; 93% were nonsmokers and 51.2% were atopic. Chronic rhino-sinusitis, ASA/NSAID sensitivity, and osteoporosis were significantly higher in uncontrolled patients. Nearly 70% of the uncontrolled asthmatics defined asthma as disturbing with significant restrictions in daily life. The most important role for medication was symptom relief. One inhaler or one tablet a month was the most preferred form of drug usage. In addition, 30.6% of the patients had tried alternative treatment with herbal remedies. Although patients were willing to become members of an asthma association, they expected the Turkish government to provide special asthma clinics and fund research into new treatments. Controlled patients achieved or were close to achieving asthma control goals. Uncontrolled patients seemed to be more pessimistic in this respect, but they reserved significant levels of hope for the future. Two-thirds of all the patients thought that they would receive better treatment in the next 5 years. Conclusions: In this study group, severe asthma patients face significant limitations in their daily lives, but they are optimistic about better asthma control and treatment options in the future.