Maio Sara, Baldacci Sandra, Simoni Marzia, Angino Anna, Martini Franca, Cerrai Sonia, Sarno Giuseppe, Pala AnnaPaola, Bresciani Megon, Paggiaro PierLuigi, Viegi Giovanni
Pulmonary Environmental Epidemiology Unit, CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa, Italy.
J Asthma. 2012 Oct;49(8):854-61. doi: 10.3109/02770903.2012.716471. Epub 2012 Sep 10.
Asthma is a disease with elevated prevalence within the general population. Although general practitioners (GPs) are among the first health-care professionals to whom patients refer for their symptoms, there are few evaluations of this disease based on data provided by the GPs. The aim of this observational study is to assess the impact of asthma and comorbid allergic rhinitis on individual/social burden, quality of life, and disease control in asthmatic patients of Italian GPs.
Throughout Italy, 107 GPs enrolled 995 patients diagnosed with asthma and using anti-asthmatic drug prescriptions, or with asthma-like symptoms during the previous 12 months. Data were collected through questionnaires filled out by GPs and patients.
Of the 995 asthmatic patients, 60.6% had concomitant allergic rhinitis (R+A), 39.4% had asthma alone. The latter, compared to those with R+A, showed significantly lower prevalence of intermittent asthma (37.5% vs. 55.6%) and higher prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe persistent asthma (28.4% vs. 23.2%, 28.7% vs. 18.8%, and 5.4% vs 2.4%, respectively). Individual/social burden due to asthma was frequent and increased with disease severity: 87.5% of severe persistent asthma patients reported at least one medical consultation in the last 12 months, 37.5% emergency department visits, 26.7% hospitalization, and 62.5% limitations in daily activities. Control and quality of life were inversely associated with disease severity and were worse in patients with R+A than in those with asthma alone.
This study showed the negative impact of high severity levels and comorbid allergic rhinitis on quality of life of asthmatic patients and on individual/social burden due to asthma in an Italian GPs setting.
哮喘是一种在普通人群中患病率不断上升的疾病。尽管全科医生（GPs）是患者因症状首先转诊的医疗保健专业人员之一，但基于全科医生提供的数据对该疾病进行的评估却很少。这项观察性研究的目的是评估哮喘和合并过敏性鼻炎对意大利全科医生诊治的哮喘患者的个人/社会负担、生活质量和疾病控制的影响。
在意大利各地，107名全科医生招募了995名被诊断为哮喘且正在使用抗哮喘药物处方的患者，或在过去12个月内有哮喘样症状的患者。数据通过全科医生和患者填写的问卷收集。
在995名哮喘患者中，60.6%伴有过敏性鼻炎（R+A），39.4%仅患有哮喘。与R+A患者相比，后者间歇性哮喘的患病率显著较低（37.5%对55.6%），而轻度、中度和重度持续性哮喘的患病率较高（分别为28.4%对23.2%、28.7%对18.8%和5.4%对2.4%）。哮喘导致的个人/社会负担很常见，且随疾病严重程度增加：87.5%的重度持续性哮喘患者在过去12个月内至少进行过一次医疗咨询，37.5%去过急诊科，26.7%住院，62.5%的日常活动受到限制。疾病控制和生活质量与疾病严重程度呈负相关，R+A患者比仅患有哮喘的患者更差。
这项研究表明，在意大利全科医生的诊疗环境中，高严重程度和合并过敏性鼻炎对哮喘患者的生活质量以及哮喘导致的个人/社会负担具有负面影响。
