Scientifica Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 549252, 15 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/549252
Review Article
Failure in Asthma Control: Reasons and Consequences
Allergy & Respiratory Diseases Clinic, DIMI, University of Genoa, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, 16132 Genoa, Italy
Received 30 September 2013; Accepted 26 November 2013
Academic Editors: A. J. Lowe, T. Oga, F. A. Redegeld, and M. Sanak
Copyright © 2013 Fulvio Braido. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Clinical research showed that asthma control is an achievable target. However, real-life observations suggest that a significant proportion of patients suffer from symptoms and report lifestyle limitations with a considerable burden on patient’s quality of life. The achievement of asthma control is the result of the interaction among different variables concerning the disease pattern and patients’ and physicians’ knowledge and behaviour. The failure in asthma control can be considered as the result of the complex interaction among different variables, such as the role of guidelines diffusion and implementation, some disease-related factors (i.e., the presence of common comorbidities in asthma such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), sleep disturbances and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and rhinitis) or patient-related factors (i.e., adherence to treatment, alexithymia, and coping strategies). Asthma control may be reached through a tailored treatment plan taking into account the complexity of factors that contribute to achieve and maintain this objective.
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