[Trends of asthma death among adults in Japan 1992-1994. Analysis of 313 cases reported questionnaires sent to hospitals with more than 100 beds].

The Japan Asthma Death Investigation Committee sent questionnaires to hospitals with more than 100 beds, and studied the clinical characteristics of 313 reported cases who died of asthma between 1992 and 1994. Forty percent of them were at the age between 60 and 79. Deaths of young adults in the twenties tended to increase. One third of the deaths was due to asphyxia. More than half of the patients were classified infectious or mixed type of asthma and 43.9% were graded as severe asthma. The main causes of the fatal asthma attacks were respiratory infections, fatigue and stress. Insufficient education, low compliance, delay in treatment with corticosteroids and other drugs, delay in emergency treatment, past histories of life-threatening attacks and hospitalization due to severe attacks were suggested to be risk factors of adult asthma death. Pulmonary emphysema showed relatively high frequency as a complication.