Asthma Current Topics in Asthma

Perceived Control Helps Influence Asthma Status

(HealthCentersOnline) - People who believe they have control over their asthma are likely to report better asthma-related health status, according to a new study.

Asthma is a chronic inflammation of the body's airway tissues that afflicts millions of people in the United States. People with asthma experience shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing. These symptoms intensify during an asthma attack, which occurs when exposure to allergens or other stimuli further inflame the airways, leading to an inability to expel trapped air from the lungs.

Asthma affects people in different ways and to various degrees. A study conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests that a patient's perceived control (a measure of a patient's beliefs about their ability to control their disease) can influence the severity of the condition.

The researchers evaluated data on 865 adults hospitalized for asthma. Telephone interviews were used to gather information from the patients after their discharge. The researchers collected demographic information, as well as information on asthma history and perceived asthma control. They then measured emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for asthma over time, with a median follow-up time of 1.9 years.

After reviewing the data, the researchers found that greater perceived control was associated with better physical health status, better asthma-related quality of life, fewer days of restricted activity due to asthma and lower asthma severity scores. Greater perceived control was also associated with significantly decreased prospective risk of ED visits and asthma-related hospitalizations. There was no connection found between perceived control and most aspects of preventive care or self-management.

Details of the study were provided by the American College of Chest Physicians in a press release. The full study appears in the November issue of CHEST.

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