Real-life prospective study on asthma control in Italy: cross-sectional phase results

OBJECTIVES:To estimate the prevalence of partly controlled and uncontrolled asthmatic patients, to evaluate quality of life and healthcare resource consumption. METHODS:Cross-sectional phase followed by a 12-month prospective phase. Asthma Control Test and the EQ-5D were used. RESULTS:2853 adult patients recruited in 56 Hospital Respiratory Units in Italy were evaluated: 64.4% had controlled asthma, 15.8% partly controlled asthma and 19.8% were uncontrolled. The mean (SD) EQ-5D score was 0.86 (0.17) in controlled, 0.75 (0.20) in partly controlled and 0.69 (0.23) in uncontrolled patients (p<0.001 between groups). The number of patients requiring hospitalization or emergency room visits was lower in controlled (1.8% and 1.6%, respectively) than in partly controlled (5.1% and 11.5%) and uncontrolled (6.4% and 18.6%). A combination of an inhaled corticosteroid and a long-acting beta-2 agonist was the reported therapy by 56.0% of patients, with the rate of controlled asthma and improved quality of life being higher in patients on extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol compared to budesonide/formoterol (p<0.05) and fluticasone/salmeterol (p<0.05 for quality of life). CONCLUSIONS:Asthma control is achieved in a good proportion of Italian patients. Differences may be detected in a real-life setting in favor of extrafine beclomethasone/formoterol combination.