GSK survey finds asthma sufferers lax in controlling condition

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., and TORONTO According to a new survey conducted by GlaxoSmithKline, nearly half of adult Americans and more than a quarter of children with asthma do not have their disease well controlled.

The Asthma USA survey examined over 81,500 households by using the Asthma Control Test, which assessed asthma control using a questionnaire. Of the more than 10,000 adults that took the ACT, 41 percent had a score of 19 or less, which indicates asthma that is not well controlled.

Children were given the Childhood Asthma Control Test and the ACT to determine their level of asthma control. According to the findings, of the 3,000 children that responded, 31 percent of the children between the ages of 4 and 11 and 25 percent of those between 12 and 17 did not have well-controlled asthma.

The survey also found that asthma that wasn’t well controlled had significant medical consequences. Adults with uncontrolled asthma were more likely to require treatment with oral corticosteroids, visit the emergency department or be admitted to the hospital than those whose asthma was well controlled. Children with uncontrolled asthma were also more likely to require urgent medical care.

“We have made quantum leaps in asthma treatment in the last decade, but the Asthma USA results demonstrate that enormous numbers of patients are living with asthma that is still not well controlled, putting them at significant health risk,” said David Stempel, director of clinical medicine for GlaxoSmithKline. “These findings remind us that improvements in care have not been uniform and underscore the critical need to improve education for both patients and healthcare providers in the management of asthma.”