Asthma control in general practice -- GP and patient perspectives compared

Australian Family Physician Volume 42, No.10, October 2013 Pages 740-743

Joan Henderson BApp Sc(HIM) (Hons), PhD (Med), is Senior Research Fellow, Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales.

Kerry L Hancock BMBS, is a general practitioner, Happy Valley, South Australia and Senior Lecturer, Primary Care Respiratory Research Unit, Discipline of General Practice, School of Population Health and Clinical Practice, University of Adelaide, South Australia.

Carol Armour BPharm (Hons), PhD, is Associate Dean, Career Development and Director, Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, Central Clinical School, Sydney, New South Wales

Christopher Harrison BPsych (Hons), MSocHlth, is a Senior Research Analyst at the Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, New South Wales.

Graeme Miller MBBS FRACGP PhD, is Associate Professor and Medical Director, Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales.

Background

How general practitioners (GPs) and patients perceive asthma control, and concordance between these perceptions, may influence asthma management and medication adherence. The aims of this study were to determine asthma prevalence in adult patients, measure patient asthma control and the correlation between GP and patient perceptions of asthma control or impact.

Methods

A Supplementary Analysis of Nominated Data (SAND) sub-study of the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) program surveyed 2563 patients from 103 GPs. Asthma control was measured using the Asthma Control Questionnaire 5-item version (ACQ-5), and medication adherence by patient self-report. Survey procedures in SAS software and Pearson’s correlation statistics were used.

Results

Asthma prevalence was 12.7% (95% confidence interval: 10.9–14.5), with good correlation between GP and patient perceptions of asthma control/impact, and with raw ACQ-5 scores. Grouped ACQ-5 scores showed higher levels of uncontrolled asthma. Medication adherence was sub-optimal.

Discussion

The ACQ-5 questions are useful for assessing asthma control, for prompting medication reviews, and for reinforcing benefits of medication compliance to improve long-term asthma control.

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