A survey of management practices in coexistent allergic rhinitis and asthma (Asia-pacific Survey of Physicians on Asthma and allergic Rhinitis): results from Thailand.

BACKGROUND

Underdiagnosis and undertreatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) in patients with asthma can worsen treatment outcomes. There is limited evidence of clinical practices for management of coexistent AR-asthma in Thailand.

METHODS

A multicountry, cross-sectional study (Asia-pacific Survey of Physicians on Asthma and allergic Rhinitis) to evaluate physician perceptions and management practices related to AR-asthma overlap in 6 Asian countries was conducted. For Thailand specifically, AR-asthma linkage questionnaires were developed and translated to Thailaland. General physicians (GPs) or pediatricians, randomly selected from hospitals in urban cities, routinely treating >10 asthma patients/month were interviewed. Here we present the results for Thailand.

RESULTS

Two hundred physicians (100 GPs and 100 pediatricians), of whom 70% worked in government hospitals, were interviewed. In their experience, 50% of asthma patients had AR and 28% of AR patients had asthma. Among diagnosed asthma patients, 65% of physicians routinely asked for any AR symptoms at every visit. Among diagnosed AR patients, 63% of physicians routinely asked for any asthma symptoms at every visit. In patients with coexisting AR-asthma, 91% of physicians treated both diseases simultaneously, while 6% of physicians treated asthma as a chronic disease but managed AR symptomatically. The most preferred treatment options for patients with AR-asthma were inhaled corticosteroids with intranasal steroids (46% in GPs, 71% in pediatricians).

CONCLUSION

The physicians interviewed in Thailand are aware about coexistent asthma-AR. There is a need to increase the awareness further for coexistent AR-asthma and to educate nonspecialist physicians in the proper management of AR-asthma patients.