RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effect of Lifestyle on Asthma Control in Japanese Patients: Importance of Periodical Exercise and Raw Vegetable Diet
Abstract
Background
The avoidance of inhaled allergens or tobacco smoke has been known to have favorable effects on asthma control. However, it remains unclear whether other lifestyle-related factors are also related to asthma control. Therefore, a comprehensive study to examine the associations between various lifestyle factors and asthma control was conducted in Japanese asthmatic patients.
Methods
The study subjects included 437 stable asthmatic patients recruited from our outpatient clinic over a one-year period. A written, informed consent was obtained from each participant. Asthma control was assessed using the asthma control test (ACT), and a structured questionnaire was administered to obtain information regarding lifestyle factors, including tobacco smoking, alcohol drinking, physical exercise, and diet. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted.
Results
The proportions of total control (ACT = 25), well controlled (ACT = 20-24), and poorly controlled (ACT < 20) were 27.5%, 48.1%, and 24.5%, respectively. The proportions of patients in the asthma treatment steps as measured by Global Initiative for Asthma 2007 in step 1, step 2, step 3, step 4, and step 5 were 5.5%, 17.4%, 7.6%, 60.2%, and 9.4%, respectively. Body mass index, direct tobacco smoking status and alcohol drinking were not associated with asthma control. On the other hand, younger age (< 65 years old), passive smoking, periodical exercise (> 3 metabolic equivalents-h/week), and raw vegetable intake (> 5 units/week) were significantly associated with good asthma control by bivariate analysis. Younger age, periodical exercise, and raw vegetable intake were significantly associated with good asthma control by multiple linear regression analysis.
Conclusions
Periodical exercise and raw vegetable intake are associated with good asthma control in Japanese patients.
Citation: Iikura M, Yi S, Ichimura Y, Hori A, Izumi S, et al. (2013) Effect of Lifestyle on Asthma Control in Japanese Patients: Importance of Periodical Exercise and Raw Vegetable Diet. PLoS ONE 8(7): e68290. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0068290
Editor: Hong Wei Chu, National Jewish Health, United States of America
Received: March 4, 2013; Accepted: May 28, 2013; Published: July 9, 2013
Copyright: © 2013 Iikura et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Funding: This work was supported by grants-in-aid from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of Japan. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
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